Clan Loyalty: story discontinued
by Dorlath
Summary: Itachi remains loyal to his clan. The Uchiha Clan works with Danzo's Root and together they assassinate the Sandaime and sieze control of Konoha, making Fugaku the new Hokage.
1. Chapter 1

**Clan Loyalty**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Warning: This story is AU. Most characters I will try to keep in character. But I think it's only normal for life experiences to affect a person. With major changes such as I'm implementing a couple of characters will be affected deeply.

Pairings, if present at all, will not be yaoi.

******

They'd done it, and it had almost been too easy. Uchiha Fugaku stood over the corpse the recently deceased Sandaime. Beside him stood his son and his fellow conspirator, Danzo.

With Danzo's help it had been a simple matter to manipulate schedules until there was a day where nearly all the guards in the Hokage's tower had been loyal to them. That had allowed them to make certain no one would raise the alarm, during or after the assassination.

Against the combined might of the three men in the room, and with the element of surprise on their side, the aged Hokage had perished mere moments into the assault.

Not that the man hadn't been extremely dangerous even at his age. The stories loved to speak of long, epic battles. But in the real world, fights between ninja were usually counted in the seconds when both sides were seriously out for blood. This actually became more accurate as the powers of the combatants increased. With the extreme potential for damage of each ability used, one small slip and that was the end. Catching the Sandaime off guard had given them just that slip.

The villagers would be sad to hear their beloved Hokage had perished so suddenly. But at his age such things were not uncommon. It was fortunate he'd survived long enough to name Fugaku his successor. Danzo had fetched him immediately on being informed of that, and the two of them had stayed to hear dying Hokage's last words. Or so they would say.

Certainly many would find that hard to believe. But this event had been planned out in detail. Root and the Uchiha Clan were already taking steps to solidify their power. Namely via the taking of hostages. Key children around the village were, at this very moment, being taken into custody.

They'd be very well taken care of and given the best training available. After all they had been chosen to participate in this highly selective program. But the message as to the real purpose for their abductions would be clear.

Soon it wouldn't matter what dissenters thought. They'd have no way to prove events didn't occur just as described and Fugaku would be firmly entrenched in his new position. An Uchiha would finally be made Hokage as should have been done long ago.

******

An eight-year-old Naruto was walking down the street, deep in thought. He'd skipped class at the Academy today to deal with a very important issue. But he was conflicted as to the best way to go about it.

When he pulled his latest prank, should he stick to freely available materials, such as your basic water, mud, and small animals? Or should he spend some of his monthly stipend on store-bought supplies so he could mix in some classics like paint, flour, and various foul smelling concoctions?

Taking out his wallet he rechecked its contents. It might be kind of tight this month, but he thought it was worth splurging a bit. This was important enough that he wanted to do it right. Now to go gather his supplies.

However, he didn't make it far before he was interrupted by a hand reaching out and pulling him into a small alleyway. Startled, he found himself held in place by an unknown assailant. He was restrained such that he could not even look back to see who held him, and a hand was held over his mouth preventing him from calling for help.

He was being kidnapped! Why hadn't he believed the stories at the orphanage about bad kids being taken away? It wasn't fair. All he'd done so far today was skip school. Now he was going to be made a slave and forced to do hard labor without rest until he was an old man! What could he do?

Didn't animals sometimes chew through a leg to get out of traps? That was it he'd just chew through his … No way he was going to do that! Why should he have to chew through his own arm? He'd chew of the kidnapper's arm instead show him you didn't take Uzumaki Naruto that easily.

But first he'd bite his way through the hand in front of his mouth. The man proved to be annoyingly prepared for this possibility and avoided all of his attempts to sink his teeth into the offending body part.

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." the voice said soothingly. Naruto didn't recognize the voice of the man who spoke but it didn't sound threatening at least.

"There are some things you need to know, and I don't have much time." his captor continued. "The Sandaime has been assassinated."

"The old man is dead?!" Naruto yelled. Or at least he tried to. But seeing as there was still a hand firmly clasped over his mouth it didn't come out sounding much like he'd wanted it to. Naruto, however, was too distraught to worry much about whether his words were understood or not.

The old man couldn't really be dead could he? He was the only person Naruto really held close to him. Many of the villagers seemed to hate him for some reason. Not all of them, but the Sandaime had been the only person who was genuinely kind to him.

The man who brought him this news hurried on with his message despite Naruto's strong reaction to what he'd already been told. "I don't have time to explain, but the Uchiha Clan was behind his murder. They're going to come for you. They'll train you. Try to make you into a weapon."

Why would they try to train him? He was just an orphan that nobody even liked.

"I need you to go along with them." the man ordered. "Take all the training they'll give you. But never forget what they did. If you do that the time will come when you'll be able to make them pay for what they did. I'll contact you again when that time comes. I have to go now. They'll already be looking for you. Remember what I told you, and don't tell anyone about this conversation."

With that Naruto felt himself released and quickly turned around, but the man had already vanished. Dazed, Naruto left the alley and began walking listlessly down the street, trying to process everything he'd just been told.

If the man was telling the truth, he'd make the Uchiha Clan pay for what they'd done. He wouldn't forgive them for taking away the man he considered to be the only family he had. Despite not being related, he'd always thought of the Hokage as somewhat of a kindly grandfather.

But how could he make them pay? No matter how much he thought, he couldn't think of anything better than what he'd been ordered to do. He didn't like the thought of waiting to see justice done, but there was nothing he could do against a whole clan of ninja by himself. At least not yet.

But why had the man been so certain they'd want to find him? Maybe this was just a cruel joke. Some revenge for one of his pranks or something. That had to be it. He'd just make his way to the Hokage's Tower now and have a laugh with the old man over the fact that someone had claimed he was dead.

He'd hardly gone two steps when he was spotted by a group of ninja that started moving purposefully towards him. Every one of them was wearing the same symbol of a fan on their clothes that Sasuke always wore at the Academy.

"Naruto." one of them called out to him. "We have some important news for you. Come with us."

Naruto just nodded mutely and followed behind them. They'd come just like the man had said. As much as he'd like to convince himself otherwise, he could no longer believe this was just a prank. He wanted to attack the men in front of him, but knew how futile that would be. So he relegated himself to glaring angrily at their backs, uncaring of how he had no plan to explain his ill will towards them if they looked back.

But they didn't look back, and by the time they'd arrived at the Hokage's tower, which appeared to be their destination, Naruto had managed to reign in his expression somewhat. Now, at least it wasn't obvious he was considering what would be the most painful way to kill everyone around him. At this point, only someone skilled at reading emotions could tell he cared at all how they died. But he was hoping his expression could be passed off as just being nervous about being called here.

Just inside the building, he saw a small crowd gathered. The purpose of it seemed to be for the gathered men to receive instructions from the few men who were directing the group. One of the men, another Uchiha, saw them enter and approached Naruto.

"I'm glad you're here, Naruto." the middle-aged Uchiha told him. "My name is Uchiha Fugako. I'm afraid I have to be the bearer of some rather tragic news. The Sandaime died today. I know it's hard, but he was an old man and it was just his time to go."

Not needing to hide his knowledge of the death anymore, and having received this final confirmation Naruto released the tears he'd been holding back. The man was a good actor too. If Naruto hadn't been forewarned, he doubted he would have questioned what he'd been told.

"Why did you want to tell me yourself?" Naruto asked between sobs, trying to pull himself together a bit and get some information.

"I knew you were close to him." Fugaku said. "But you're right. That's not why I called you here. There is a secret the Sandaime kept from you that I feel you have a right to know."

A secret? What would the Sandaime hide from him? Naruto wondered if this might be just another lie to get him to cooperate. But then again, there had to be some reason the man was interested in him. Maybe his clan had a really cool bloodline or something.

"You have the Kyuubi sealed within you." Fugaku declared.

"What!?" Naruto yelled incredulously. "But the Yondaime killed him."

"I wish that were so." Fugaku replied. "But not even the Yondaime was capable of killing a Biju. Instead he gave his life to seal the demon inside of you. That's the reason many of the villagers fear you."

As much as Naruto didn't want to believe it, it did make sense. He'd even heard some of the villagers calling him a demon. It also explained why the Uchiha Clan was interested in him.

"But I think they're fools for treating you the way they do." Fugaku continued. "And now that I'm taking over as Hokage, I won't allow it to go on any longer. To start with, a young boy like you doesn't deserve to be forced to live on his own."

"You mean you'll find someone for me to live with?" Naruto asked hopefully, momentarily shocked into forgetting he was supposed to despise the man in front of him. He hated living alone in his apartment. Seeing all the other kids with their parents when all he had to go home to was an empty room.

Fugaku chuckled at the young boy's response. "I was thinking of taking you in myself. I have a son about your age. I believe Sasuke is even in your class. I'm sure you two would get along great. That is, of course, if you'd like live with us."

"I'll do it!" Naruto said quickly. He tried to assure himself he was merely doing this to play his part. That it wasn't because one of his greatest secret desires was being offered to him. He even came close to convincing himself of that.

******

Naruto stood with Fugaku at the entrance to the man's house. As excited as he'd been about this, he now found himself dreading the moment. Fugaku wanted to use him, but what about the man's family? Would they fear him and treat him like the rest of the villagers did?

Against his will, his mind flashed back to stories he'd heard about evil stepmothers abusing poor young children. Would he spend the coming years slaving away doing household chores while Sasuke and his mother gloated and insulted him?

Not giving him time to properly prepare himself, Fugaku opened the door and ushered him inside. He saw a dark haired woman inside he could only assume was Fugaku's wife and felt his tension spike waiting for her reaction as she looked his way.

"Oh, you must be Naruto-kun." she said hurrying over to him. She then knelt down and lifted his chin so she they were looking eye to eye.

"My, such a handsome young boy." she said cheerfully. Naruto finally let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He was relieved that his fears seem to have been unfounded.

"My name is Mikoto." she continued warmly as she stood up again. "I hope you like fish. I was going to ask you what you'd like for your welcome dinner, but I'm afraid my husband kept you too late."

"Um ... fish is fine." Naruto said weakly, still somewhat overwhelmed by everything that was going on. He then kicked himself mentally for such a pitiful reaction. Here was this woman being nice to him and the best he could say was 'fish is fine?'

Putting a big smile on his face he spoke far more energetically this time. "Really, it smells great! I can't wait to eat!"

"I'm glad you think so." she said brightly, pleased with his response. "But I'm afraid it's not ready just yet. In the meantime, why don't I show you to your room?"

"Sure." Naruto replied, then followed obediently behind her as she lead him up the stairs and down the hallway until they came to an open door. Looking inside he was startled to see the room was huge. It had to be larger than his whole apartment had been.

And there was a large bed in the corner. Seeing this, Naruto immediately ran over and jumped onto the bed bouncing a few times and enjoying the experience. A laugh from the door reminded him of just where he was. He scurried quickly off the bed, able to feel his face reddening he was so embarrassed.

"I'm sorry but I never had a bed before and I just always wanted to do that and it'll never happen again." rambled Naruto as quickly as he could get out.

"That's alright Naruto." she reassured him. "Just be careful not to hurt yourself. I'm going to finish dinner so I'll let you settle in until it's ready. We already sent someone to pick up your things from your apartment. You'll find them in your closet. Let me know if you need anything."

"I will." replied Naruto. "Thanks again."

Mikoto departed and left Naruto to look over his room. He just stood there for a couple of minutes soaking in the room and trying to adjust to the fact that it was his now. Besides the bed, the room was also furnished with a dresser, a desk with a lamp on it, and a bookshelf. Naruto wasn't much of an expert, but they all looked to be very high quality to him.

This day had been the wildest of Naruto's memory. He couldn't believe everything that had happened to him already. He almost expected to wake up and discover it had all been a dream. What he didn't expect was to be interrupted from his thoughts by someone tackling him from behind.

He tried to fight back against his assailant but he quickly found himself flat on his stomach with his right arm held somewhat painfully behind his back. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the person who held him in this position was none other than Sasuke. Naruto was growing quite angry. He didn't care how the other boy felt about him moving in here. This was just too much, and when he found a way to get loose he'd teach the other boy a lesson in manners.

"So you have the Kyuubi inside you?" Sasuke asked calmly. "I would have thought you'd be a lot stronger."

"I just found out about that today, you idiot." Naruto yelled at him. "I don't have a clue how to use his power. And I'm plenty strong. You only won because you snuck up on me."

"Well, I suppose it will still be nice to have someone to spar with when nii-san is busy." Sasuke continued as if Naruto hadn't even said anything.

"What makes you think I'd want to spar with you after you did this to me?" Naruto retorted bitterly.

"So you're willing to leave it be with me having won our only match?" Sasuke asked, finally releasing Naruto and getting up. He then offered his hand to Naruto.

Rather than use it help himself up, Naruto grabbed the offered arm and pulled Sasuke to the ground. He then twisted it around and got Sasuke into the same hold that had just been used on him.

"Now we're one and one." Naruto said smugly, glad to have put the other boy in his place.

"I guess we'll just have to have a match to break the tie sometime." Sasuke responded.

"I guess we will." Naruto answered in turn, actually looking forward to that match.

"Boys, dinner will be ready in five minutes." Mikoto called out from the stairway. "Wash up and come to the table."

And so Naruto went to prepare for the first home cooked meal he could ever recall having. Naruto didn't even have a stove or any other means to cook with in his apartment. So he'd never had a chance to try cooking anything himself. Unless you counted the one time he'd tried to cook using a campfire. But there hadn't been much left of his food after that one attempt. Or his first apartment for that matter.

******

"I'm glad to see you could take time away from your family for such a trivial matter as this." Danzo greeted Fugaku, voice thick with sarcasm.

"You're quite aware of the true purpose of that time." Fugaku answered levelly, not willing to be baited by the man.

"Yes I am. However, we had agreed the boy would be joining Root." Danzo replied sharply.

"Had we?" Fugaku deadpanned. "I'm afraid I'd forgotten."

"I suppose it's good we actually have a Hokage with the foresight to make a move like that." the older man responded retrospectively. "But don't expect me to just let you get away with whatever you want."

"I assure you, the thought had never crossed my mind." Fugaku was able to answer in all honesty. "But on to other matters. Does it appear the transition is going smoothly?"

"About what we'd expected." Danzo told him, dropping the banter and taking a much more businesslike tone. It showed that, despite all his faults, he was still very much the professional when it came to plotting. "A number of ninja have fled the village, but none we weren't prepared to lose. Surprisingly enough, Asuma has chosen to stick around."

"Really?" Fugaku queried, not expecting the Sandaime's son to stay. "He must have been more attached to his nephew than we'd anticipated. You don't think this will affect our predictions for the Jounin vote of confidence do you?"

"No." Danzo informed him, dismissing his concerns. "Even if he does try to sway them against you, our little hostage extraction went flawlessly. Most of them won't dare vote against you. The Hyuuga Clan is being a bit stubborn, but I intend to set an example that should bring them in line and discourage any others from creating problems."

"I've no love for the Hyuugas." he replied. "But don't take it too far. We have enough ill will without harming children."

"As you wish, Hokage-sama." Danzo answered in mock deference.

******

**AN**

I hope this is an interesting twist on the standard "Naruto grows up with someone else as a parent" cliche. My one real regret with this plan, is that with him being trained to use the Kyuubi's power from such a young age, it'll be hard to avoid being a bit super Naruto-ish. I do promise that I won't let it get carried away in that direction.

I also promise to try my best to finish the story without disappearing for months in the middle. I'm proud of the fact that I'm two for two on that and determined to make it three for three. I will not, however, be releasing as quickly as I did those stories. They were too rushed and I'm going to force myself to take my time, keep improving them, and pace my story a little better. So you're not going to see four chapters in four days and the whole thing done in two weeks. I'm aiming for a chapter every 1-2 weeks. I really want to do this story right and see what I can do when I put more effort into it. So I'm forbidding myself from releasing less than seven days after my last chapter.

That brings me to my last note. **I'm looking for a beta. **I'm not looking for someone to fix spelling and grammar. I'm looking for someone who will critique my chapters, tell me what seems weak, make suggestions, discuss my future plans, and even just act as a sounding board for ideas. If you're willing to do some or all of this please let me know. I've got an outline I'll send out to anyone who's interested.

There might be a bit of a delay for chapter two depending on how long it takes to find a beta. I really want to have one for this story. But I'll keep writing regardless. So if it takes me a while to find one, I'll just give you a long chapter two to make up for it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked Naruto.

"You're the one who said you wanted to learn something new." Naruto replied. "Don't worry so much. I'm great at distractions. You just wait here. When I get the guards to run off, you sneak in and grab some scrolls."

Said guards where clan members of Sasuke's and the scrolls were jutsu scrolls in one of the clan's libraries. Sasuke had been complaining about Itachi being too busy to train them. When Naruto couldn't take anymore of his whining he'd suggested this alternative path to learning a new technique.

Without any further protest from his friend, he made his way off behind some trees where he had already stored what he needed for this little prank, a bottle of ketchup. Applying liberally to his body he prepared himself, leaped out of his concealment, and shouted, "Help! They're after me."

Seeing he had the guards' attention, he deliberately fell to the ground feigning unconsciousness. Thankfully, he heard two sets of footsteps rapidly approaching.

"Check his vitals." one of them ordered. "And keep on your guard for whoever attacked him."

He felt someone's fingers pressed into his neck and did his best to stay still. "He has a pulse." the man called out and ... wait, this isn't blood."

Naruto jumped up determined to keep their attention as long as possible. "Hah. I got you. It's just ketchup. Counting you two that's five people I've tricked so far today."

"Now Naruto," said the the man who had taken charge, "this isn't something you should joke about."

"I don't know," replied his younger companion, "I thought it was pretty funny."

Naruto noticed Sasuke making a quick exit from the building with some scrolls in his hands. When he'd safely dashed around the corner, Naruto decided to extract himself from this situation as well. "Well, I was about to head home anyway, so I won't do it anymore if that makes you feel better."

"Just clean yourself off before you do." the elder man replied. "You don't want to give Mikoto a fright."

"I will. Thanks." Naruto shouted over his shoulder, already making his way towards where Sasuke had disappeared. He took the guard's advice and starting trying to wipe the ketchup off himself as he went. Making his way to Sasuke, he immediately began to examine their haul. It looked like he had grabbed four scrolls.

"Let me see them." Naruto demanded impatiently.

"Not here." Sasuke replied. "We could still get caught. Let's take them back to my room."

Relenting, Naruto followed behind him as they made their way home. No one stopped them along the way, but upon entering the house, Sasuke found himself facing his mother. Immediately he attempted to hide the scrolls behind his back in a manner that just screamed that he shouldn't have them.

"What do you have there?" Mikoto asked.

"Nothing." Sasuke replied lamely.

Nothing? Hiding them behind his back? Naruto was seriously going to have to teach Sasuke a thing or two before their next joint mission. He couldn't have been more obvious if he'd just admitted his guilt outright.

"Hand them over." she demanded. Sasuke did so obediently and she looked them over quickly.

"Itachi." she called out to Sasuke's brother, who Naruto only just realized was sitting at the table in the kitchen. "Are any of these safe for the boys."

Getting up Itachi read through the scrolls one by one. He raised his eyebrow on the third one and looked at them almost questioningly. He suspected they wouldn't be getting that one back. Upon finishing he returned one scroll to Mikoto.

"They can read this one if they really want to." Itachi replied. "But it merely covers theory, there's no actual jutsu in it. The others are simply too dangerous. It seems they're spending their time getting into things they shouldn't be."

"If you'd trained us when I'd asked we wouldn't have done this in the first place." Sasuke replied petulantly.

"I'm glad you're taking such an interest in your education." Fugaku said as he entered the door.

The man was now wearing the Hokage robes and hat, having officially received the job the day before. Naruto fought back another wave of anger at seeing the man wear the robes he associated so strongly with the Sandaime. He supposed he should be grateful to have a constant reminder of the man's crime to keep his anger fresh, but he was going to get in trouble if he couldn't control himself better.

"Because the academy will be starting up again tomorrow." Fugaku continued, causing Naruto to groan. He'd been enjoying the time off due to the temporary closing in honor of the Sandaime. He'd heard it got more exciting later on, but at the start of the first year classes were horribly boring.

"There's no reason for you to get depressed, Naruto." Fugaku informed him, having heard the groan. "You won't be returning to the academy."

"Why not?" Naruto blurted out, not at all expecting that. He didn't like the academy much but he wasn't about to give up being a ninja.

"While the teachers there are quite good," Fugaku replied, "they don't offer any classes on how to be a jinchuuriki. Starting tomorrow, we'll be giving you special training tailored to your unique position in the village."

"What kind of training?" Naruto asked, emotions doing a quick flip back to positive at the prospect.

"I'm not entirely certain." Fugaku answered. "We don't know anyone who's trained a jinchuuriki before. We're just going to have to try different things until we find something that works. I'm afraid I can't stay and discuss this further. I'm just far too busy lately."

Turning to leave again, Fugaku then paused as if considering something, before turning to address them again. "Before I go, I am quite impressed you two managed to get those scrolls. I'll have to reprimand the guards."

Naruto was a bit embarrassed, not used to being praised for his hijinks. He noticed Sasuke seemed to be positively beaming at the compliment, although he had no idea why it was such a big deal to him.

"If you two are that determined, I'll have Itachi teach you something more appropriate." Fugaku added.

"I already have a task you assigned me I need to take care of." Itachi reminded his father.

"Nonsense." Fugaku replied dismissively. "I'll have someone else cover for you. What's the point of being Hokage if you can't abuse your power a little for the sake of your family. Now I really have stayed longer than I should, so I'll be back later tonight, assuming I can find the time to sleep."

This time, he left without any further delays. After his departure, Sasuke turned to Itachi hopefully. "Father even told you to, so now you have to train us."

"Just don't teach them anything too destructive." Mikoto ordered him.

Itachi stood thoughtfully for a few moments before coming to a decision. "I'm going to teach you two the Henge no Jutsu."

"Come on nii-san." Sasuke whined. "They're going to teach that in the academy."

"Wait, Sasuke. I can think of a lot of good uses for that jutsu." Naruto argued, visions of all the ways he could have put that to use in his pranks flashing through his mind. "Besides, don't you want to learn it before everyone else?"

"I guess." Sasuke said halfheartedly.

Itachi considered that good enough and showed them the hand seals. "Simply focus chakra through your entire body while doing the seals. Then picture what you want to turn into. Why don't you try turning into me to start with."

Eager to give it a try, both Naruto and Sasuke went through the seals and a puff of smoke surrounded them. When it cleared, Naruto decided that Sasuke could be said to look like Itachi, if Itachi were about 6 inches shorter and suffered some sort of wasting disease that left him inhumanely thin. Itachi held out a hand mirror for them. Naruto had no idea where it had come from, but looked at it anyway, seeing himself with black hair. Sadly that seemed to be the only change he'd undergone.

"The key is the have a clear image of your intended transformation." Itachi advised them. "Focus harder on what you want to change into. The only other thing I can tell you is to keep practicing."

Both of them released their technique in a puff of smoke. "Let's go up to my room to practice." Sasuke recommended. "I have a mirror there."

Agreeing, he followed Sasuke to his room, where the two boys began to practice in earnest. The next hour saw a stream of distorted Itachis to rival a house of mirrors. To Naruto's annoyance, Sasuke seemed to be making progress faster. The other boy was actually getting pretty close when he suddenly sat down on his bed.

"I can't go on any longer." Sasuke said. "I just don't have any chakra left to use. Aren't you tired yet?"

"Not at all." Naruto replied honestly, not really feeling any strain.

"Maybe we're finally seeing some of the power of the Kyuubi." Sasuke speculated.

He could be right. But whatever the reason, this gave him the perfect chance to catch up to Sasuke. Going through the seals again he continued his efforts.

"Well, if you're going to keep at it, I'm going out back for shuriken practice." Sasuke told him.

"Good luck." Naruto said to the departing boy.

So Naruto spent a second hour working on his Henge as he slowly perfected the transformation. When Mikoto called out for dinner he rushed down the stairs, eager to show off his new prowess. Seeing Sasuke enter, he got the boy's attention, then went through the jutsu one more time, transforming to Itachi in a puff of smoke.

It might be his imagination, but he thought Sasuke looked a little envious of how well he'd done.

"Let me see." Mikoto said, coming up behind him. He turned around and looked at her as she examined him closely. "Not quite." she concluded. "But that may just be because you don't know him as well as I do. It takes a lot of work to fool a mother's eye."

"To truly master the technique, you need to be able to transform accurately into your target even on the first attempt." Itachi said from his seat at the table, making Naruto wonder if he'd stayed there the entire time they'd been practicing. "In addition, you must also learn to mimic the behavior of your target if you're going to fool anyone."

"Yeah." Sasuke chimed in. "No one would believe you're nii-san the way you're acting."

"That's enough training until after dinner." Mikoto ordered them. "Now go wash up so we can eat."

Naruto hurried to do so, looking forward to another of Mikoto's meals. They hadn't disappointed him yet.

******

Naruto stood with Itachi in an empty field preparing for his first day of jinchuuriki training. "So ... what do I do?" he asked.

"You've never been in a situation where you've used his power before?" Itachi inquired.

"I don't think so." Naruto replied.

"I'm going to try something then. Look at my eyes." Itachi ordered.

The older boy's eyes transformed, giving Naruto his first ever look at the Sharingan he'd heard so much of from Sasuke the past few days. Suddenly it almost felt like he was falling, and everything went black. When his vision cleared, he and Itachi seemed to be standing in a sewer of some type next to a large cage with a seal on it.

Naruto fell backwards in surprise as a set of extremely large claws were thrust through the bars in the cage. "**Come closer so I can kill you." **demanded a very menacing voice. He could feel an aura of oppression emanating from the darkness on the other side of the bars.

"Kyuubi." Itachi responded calmly, not showing the slightest bit of concern for the potential threat of the creature in front of them. "We have come to convince you to allow Naruto to use your power."

"**Why should I help this pitiful weakling?"** the Kyuubi asked.

"Because we're going to find a way to make you whether you want to or not." Itachi responded as if it were the most natural conclusion in the world. "Besides, I would have thought you'd prefer to get involved. Surely using your power in such a manner would be more likely to give you a way out of your captivity than sitting in your cage brooding."

"**You have a lot of nerve saying something like that to me." **Kyuubi said far more arrogantly than Naruto would have thought possible from someone on that side of a cage. "**I'll agree to your little suggestion for now. But don't be surprised if my power ends up devouring that little brat completely."**

Red energy began to leak out and surround Naruto. It had the same oppressive feeling he'd felt from the cage and it was forcing its way painfully into his body. Naruto blacked out again and when he came to he was standing next to Itachi in the same field they'd started in.

"Naruto, do you feel any different?" Itachi asked him.

"No. Not really." he replied.

"Let's see if you can access the Kyuubi's power now." Itachi suggested. "Try to remember the feel of his chakra and draw it out."

Naruto did as he was asked, but nothing happened. Redoubling his efforts he thought he felt something. Focusing on that sensation, he was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of power flowing through him. The power flowed and melded around him in odd ways.

It seemed particularly active around his eyes and face, leaving a peculiar sensation behind it. Then he felt it flow to his hands and saw his fingernails changing to resemble claws. This left him to wonder what changes had occurred in the other areas where it had been active.

"Good." Itachi commended him. "Now let's practice using your new power. Attack me."

That sounded fine to Naruto. He'd never felt so strong before. Leaping toward the older Uchiha boy he attacked with a speed and ferocity far beyond what he'd ever had before. But it wasn't nearly enough to actually hit his opponent, who easily dodged all the intended blows. The constant evasions just fueled a growing fury that Naruto felt.

"Stop dodging and fight me for real!" he yelled out in frustration.

"Calm down, Naruto." Itachi commanded. "I believe the Kyuubi is influencing you."

Naruto wasn't about to stop before he'd got in a good hit, so he pressed on with his assault rather than obeying.

"That's enough." Itachi ordered much more forcefully. "Release the Kyuubi's chakra now."

The sharpness of the command was enough to get through to Naruto and he did his best to stop using the Kyuubi's chakra. Feeling the power drain from him it seemed to take his anger with it.

"Sorry." Naruto apologized now that he was able to clearly think on how he'd acted. "I don't know what came over me."

"We will need to practice your control in that state." Itachi said, not acknowledging his apology in any way. "Anger during battle is a weakness. Let's try it again, but focus on controlling your emotions."

The next few days of training were doing just that. Rather than practice combat he would simply summon the Kyuubi's chakra and do his best to control the rage it brought with it. So he was surprised when one morning, Itachi wasn't the only person standing there. Beside him was another ninja he didn't recognize, wearing a standard Konoha Jounin vest.

"This is Tenzo." introduced Itachi before Naruto could even ask. "We're going to be doing something a little different today and he's here to help with that."

Naruto greeted the man, who nodded politely in return.

"Today I want you to try summoning more of the Kyuubi's chakra than you usually do." Itachi announced.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked. "I haven't even really mastered my control with the amount I'm already using."

"That's what Tenzo is here for." Itachi said as if that was explanation enough.

Naruto wasn't sure what Tenzo could do but decided to go along with Itachi's plan. Summoning the Kyuubi's chakra to him, as he'd been doing for days now, he didn't stop but continued to reach for more. Power kept surging into him that significantly surpassed what he'd been using on his previous attempts. Looking over his shoulder, he even saw the red chakra forming itself into a tail.

Power wasn't the only thing he received in larger portions. The rage quickly burned through his mind, wiping past all his efforts at control. Not even waiting for directions, he charged at Itachi determined to use his new power to make up for his embarrassment on their first day of training. But despite Naruto being sure he was even faster than before, he still couldn't so much as scratch the older boy.

This time he wasn't going to leave it at that. If he wasn't strong enough yet, he'd just use more power. Reaching again for the red chakra he drew even more of it into his body.

"Stop him, Tenzo." Itachi ordered.

The other man wasted no time running through the hand seals for a technique. "Hokage-shiki Jijun Jutsu - Kakuan Nitten Suishu" he yelled out, a symbol of some type appearing on his hand. After finishing the technique he rushed at Naruto and slammed the symbol covered palm into his chest.

Tenzo jumped back and Naruto saw a blue stream between his chest and the man's hand. His power was flowing out of him through that stream and soon the demonic chakra was gone, leaving Naruto in his normal state.

"It seems we'll have to work on using that form a bit." Itachi stated simply.

******

**2 months later**

Naruto had been hard at work with Itachi and Tenzo for the last couple of months. He could keep himself pretty well controlled at his lowest state of using the Kyuubi's chakra, but still didn't have his one tailed form down very well. And based on the one time they let him try with two tails, it would be a while before he'd be combat ready in that form.

But today, Tenzo and Itachi were busy with something else, and he had a rare day off. Sasuke still had class so he had to find something to do on his own for a while. After considering his options, he'd decided to do something he hadn't done since his move and just wander around the village.

Coming to the shopping district, he put a hold on his wandering to look around at the various wares. He had a little money with him and maybe he'd find something interesting.

"What is he doing hear?" he heard someone say. "About the only good thing the Uchiha Clan has done is keep that monster away from the rest of us. But it seems they can't even do that right."

Naruto looked over at the speaker to see it was a middle aged woman with a shopping basket who was chatting with another woman around her age. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to deal with this anymore but he supposed that was too much to ask for.

"Oh, so you heard me?" the woman asked scowling at him. She then continued in a louder voice to make it clear she wanted him to hear. "Well that's just fine we don't have to keep quiet anymore. I can tell you what I really think. I think a demon like you needs to get out of here and stop fouling up the place for us decent folk."

Naruto turned away, and started slowly walking. He'd heard whispers before, but somehow having something like that said openly to him just made it all the worse. He no longer felt like shopping. Trudging along forlornly, he hadn't gone far when he heard a loud slap from where the direction where the woman had been. Turning back he was shocked to see Mikoto standing there by the woman, who was now sporting a large hand shaped red mark on her cheek.

"Mikoto-sama." the woman called out, fear clearly showing in her face. "I'm sorry I just ..."

"Shut up!" Mikoto interrupted. "Don't let me ever find out you've been saying anything like that about Naruto again. Now get out of my sight."

The woman and her friend made a hasty retreat. Mikoto moved just as quickly to where Naruto was. "Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked, her concern clear in her voice. "Don't you worry, I'll see to it that this isn't allowed to go on."

"You don't need to that, I'm used to it." Naruto mumbled. "I wouldn't want to trouble you anymore anyway. I'm sure it's hard enough just being forced to take care of me."

"Don't ever think that, Naruto." Mikoto insisted. "You've brought nothing but joy to the house since you came. Even in the short time it's been, I've come to think of you as another son. When they say things like that it hurts me as much as it does you."

"Really?" Naruto asked, misting up from listening to her words. Mikoto had been so great to him, but he'd always secretly feared that he was a burden to her that she only put up with because her husband told her to.

"I promise you that every word was true." Mikoto answered.

Naruto was completely choking up now. He thought of something he was kind of afraid to ask, but gathering up his courage he decided to risk it. "You said you think of me like a son, so would it ... you know ... be alright with you if I call you mom?"

The brilliant smile she gave Naruto warmed him to his very soul. "Nothing would make me happier."

******

After returning from his emotional trip through Konoha, Naruto had spent a few hours in his room just lying on his bed thinking. Eventually, his thoughts were interrupted when he smelled something delicious from downstairs. His stomach growling in response, so he decided to make his way to the source of that tempting aroma. Upon descending the stairs, he saw that Sasuke had returned home and for some reason seemed to have fallen asleep at the table.

"Ah good, you're here." his ... his mother said. It still felt odd even thinking of her that way. But a pleasant sort of odd.

"I was just about to call you." she continued. "Can you wake up Sasuke for me? It's almost time to eat."

Walking over to the boy he shook him gently on his shoulder. "Huh, what is it?" he asked drowsily as he regained consciousness.

"M ... Mikoto wanted me to wake you for dinner." he stuttered, catching himself before he said mom, not sure how Sasuke would react to that.

She wasn't about to leave it at that, though. "Mikoto?" she questioned him. "I thought you were going to start calling me mom."

This brought Sasuke to full wakefulness as he looked at Naruto questioningly, making him quite nervous in the process.

"If she's your mom now, I guess that makes us brothers." Sasuke said. "I always wanted a little brother."

"Hey!" Naruto replied, his relief at Sasuke taking it so well quickly fading into annoyance. "Why do you get to be the older brother?"

"Because I am older." Sasuke answered simply.

"What makes you so sure of that?" queried Naruto.

"Because my birthday is July 23rd and your isn't until October 10th." he replied as nonchalantly as before.

"How do you know my birthday?" Naruto demanded to know, not liking the turn this debate was taking.

"You know, the date the Kyuubi was defeated?" Sasuke asked in a mocking tone. "It's kind of in the history books."

"Oh yeah." Naruto said somewhat embarrassed he hadn't realized that. "But don't think I'm going to call you nii-san."

"Foolish otouto" Sasuke replied, poking Naruto in the forehead with two of his his fingers in his best impression of Itachi.

"That's enough playing around. It's time to eat." Their mother told them, setting some food on the table. And so he had sort of a first dinner with his mother and brother.

******

**3 months later**

Naruto and Sasuke were just returning from an errand to buy some eggs for their mother. Naruto, however was a bit depressed, something that Sasuke picked up on.

"What's bothering you?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing." Naruto answered sullenly.

"Something is definitely bothering you." Sasuke insisted. "And I know just the thing to cheer you up, follow me."

He then took off at full speed leaving Naruto to chase after him. "Wait up!" he called out. "I've got the eggs."

His brother didn't slow down, however, and Naruto was having trouble keeping up while making sure not to damage the eggs he was carrying. But he managed to keep him in sight and saw the other boy enter their house. Slowing down, he made his own way inside.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" Sasuke and their mother called out startling Naruto.

He should have known they wouldn't forget. He noticed that Fugaku was present as well, and had to laugh when he saw that someone had convinced Itachi to put on a party hat. He was trying to sit there as if it was perfectly normal for him to be wearing it, but Naruto thought that only made it look even more ridiculous.

The rest of the day was a blur of presents, a dinner of his favorite foods, cake, and celebrating that left the boy overwhelmed. It was almost too much for him to handle. It seemed as if it was just minutes after he'd walked in the door that he was turning in for the night, letting the whole party replay itself again in a hundred variations in his dreams.

******

"I can't believe we still have so much resistance to everything we do." Fugaku fumed after receiving the latest daily report. "You assured me everything would be settled by now."

"If you would have listened to my advice, it would be." Danzo responded to the irate Hokage. "You need to take a stronger hand. They must fear you if they're going to be brought under control."

"Even if they didn't some how lead to a civil war, your tactics simply go too far." Fugaku countered.

"If it makes you feel better," Danzo said mockingly, "I've come up with an alternative plan that may avoid upsetting even your delicate sensibilities."

"And what's that?" Fugaku asked, ignoring the barb.

"We send the Kyuubi boy around on patrols while he draws on his power." Danzo suggested. "The demon is still the source of a great deal of fear even among the ranks of our ninja. Showing that we control him and are not afraid to make use of his power will cause many to think twice about resisting our authority."

"That could work." Fugaku answered thoughtfully. "We could tell him that it's simply additional training in controlling the beast. That he needs to be able to resist its influence while going about ordinary tasks."

"I'll work out a route for him to patrol for maximum effect." Danzo told him. "I'll let you know when it's prepared."

"Yes," Fugaku agreed. "let's not waste any time."

******

**3 years later**

"You want me to what?!" Naruto cried out in disbelief at what he'd just heard.

"Transform until you've got a couple of tails or so and then hit me with all the killing intent you can manage." Sasuke repeated. "It's a pretty simple concept. I'm hoping it will trick my body into activating my Sharingan."

"Problem is it's hard to generate killing intent when I don't want to kill you." Naruto informed him. "Beat some sense into you, yes. Kill you, no."

"Just release some of the control you have on the Kyuubi." Sasuke suggested. "Then you should be able to generate it without any problem."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "and I might actually kill you. You basically want me to release my control while keeping tight control over myself to make sure I don't follow through on my intent to kill you."

"That's a brilliant idea!" he added sarcastically. "Can't I at least get Tenzo in case things go wrong?"

"No." Sasuke insisted. "He'd just tell dad, who would tell me to wait until it happened naturally."

"And maybe that would be good advice." Naruto retorted.

"You owe me, Naruto. Unless you want mom to find out the real reason for that hole in the wall last week." he threatened.

"Alright already. You win. But I'm not leaving any flowers on your grave if this goes wrong."

Deciding to get started before he came to his senses, he quickly began channeling Kyuubi's chakra. As the power flowed through him, first one, then a second chakra tail formed behind him. Looking at where Sasuke was standing he began to slowly lower the tight shields he had against his anger.

Pretty soon he was furious at the other boy. And why shouldn't he be for dragging him into this? Think of all the trouble he could get into. Focusing that anger he released it into a wave of deadly intent. He saw Sasuke flinch under the assault, but there was no change to his eyes.

Getting an idea, Naruto decided to give him the scare he deserved. He might help him achieve his goal as a side effect, but that wasn't his primary concern any longer. Charging at Sasuke, he formed a giant claw of demonic chakra around his right hand. He sent it hurtling at the other boy faster than he could react, only to turn it to the side so that it just missed him at the last instant.

He saw Sasuke belatedly trying to dodge out of the way and thought he noticed glimpse of red by his eyes. Regaining his control, he powered down at the same time confirming that, yes, Sasuke did have a partially developed Sharingan with one tomoe in each eye.

"It worked." he told Sasuke, now completely having shed the Kyuubi's chakra.

"Really?" Sasuke asked excitedly. "Then let's get out of here. Someone is sure to have sensed that."

Doing so, the two of them quickly made their way back to their home, then went upstairs to Sasuke's room. Sasuke spent the next few minutes in front of the mirror practicing activating and releasing his Sharingan.

"You're not going to stand a chance against me in a fight now." Sasuke told him arrogantly.

"I'm pretty sure even with your Sharingan I could still demolish you with little effort." Naruto replied. "Let's not forgot that you activated it only because you were so terrified of me."

"Sure, if you use the Kyuubi's chakra." Sasuke admitted "But just me versus you I'd win easily."

"Using the Kyuubi's chakra is part of who I am." Naruto insisted. "That's like me saying I could beat you easily if you didn't use your right arm."

"Except that wouldn't be true." Sasuke quipped. "You without the Kyuubi versus me with one arm, I could still win that."

"I'm not so sure about that." Naruto retorted. "I've heard you've been slacking lately. You even lost your top spot in the academy."

"Yeah well, I might not put quite the effort into school I used to," Sasuke admitted, "but I don't need you getting on my case about it too."

"And why don't you try as hard as you used to?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know." Sasuke said shrugging. "I guess I just used to always try so hard because I wanted to catch up to Itachi. I finally concluded that wasn't going to happen, and I'm fine with that now. But once I realized that, I was able to take a more of a relaxed view of life."

"So relaxed you're willing to risk your life to activate your Sharingan?" Naruto joked.

"Hey, I still have some pride." Sasuke said defensively. "And it's not like I've given up on being a great ninja. I just don't feel so rushed to do it. I know that Itachi and you are more than enough protection for the clan in the meantime. Which reminds me, you ever master your four tailed form?"

"Not yet." Naruto admitted. "Itachi and Tenzo still have me working on strengthening my resistance to intense chakra so I don't burn my own skin off. Healing or no healing, the pain is too much of a distraction for me to have the control I need in that form. They say I still have a ways to go before they'll even let me try transforming that far again."

"You will protect the clan right?" Sasuke asked suddenly. "I know you're not actually a member and I'd just feel better if I actually heard you say you would."

Naruto wished he hadn't asked that. It brought up things he hadn't wanted to think about for a long time. Sure he'd protect Sasuke and their mom. He even considered himself very close to Itachi. But he'd sworn he'd never forgive the Uchiha Clan for killing the Sandaime.

But then again, why should he even believe they had? All the proof he had was the words of some unknown stranger he'd never even seen. And no one in the clan had ever done anything to him deserving of his scorn.

He realized if he waited any longer to respond it would seem awkward and he'd made up his mind anyway. "Sure, Sasuke. You can count on me."

"Thanks." Sasuke replied. "Now I can slack off even more in class and just let you do all the work. I mean we have a demon on our side, who's going to mess with us."

"Well, there is one person I know of who would not only dare to take on Itachi and I, but would probably win too." Naruto said thoughtfully.

"Who would that be?" Sasuke asked curiously.

"Mom." was all he needed to say in response.

******

**AN**

Now wasn't that chapter just disgustingly sweet? I almost made myself nauseous just writing it. But in all seriousness, don't expect things to stay so pleasant and easy for Naruto. He's been under the Uchiha Clan's wing for so long it's only natural he's been sheltered from a lot of what's going on. But he's going to be exposed to some of that in the future. The next chapter will also bring in additional characters who will be important to this story.

And so much for forbidding myself from releasing more than one chapter a week huh? But three days is almost a week right? There's only so many times I can bring myself to read over my chapter. I'd just about reached that limit and it didn't make much sense to just sit on the chapter and make people wait. At least I didn't just post it immediately after the first proofread like I used to do. I was able to make a number of finishing touches thanks to that.

Still haven't found a beta, but I don't want to let that hold me up yet. Two chapters is still short enough that it wouldn't be hard to rework them a bit even after they're posted. The direction of the story isn't exactly terribly well defined yet. Still haven't heard back from the most recent person I've asked to beta yet either, so maybe I'll get one soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto stood in front of the academy, a building he hadn't been inside in almost four years. But today teams would be assigned, and despite not having gone through the standard ninja schooling, he was to be put on a team as well. He felt a bit of trepidation at entering, almost as if he didn't belong there.

But Naruto steeled his nerves and prepared to enter.

"Stop standing there gaping like an idiot and go inside." Sasuke told him.

"I was about to." Naruto responded, annoyed at his brother.

Going inside, he followed Sasuke and found an empty seat beside him while he waited. He spent his time, as people slowly filed in, trying to look for familiar faces. He thought he recognized some of them, but in a single month of classes he hadn't really got to know anyone well enough to remember much about them after four years.

Naruto saw one of the other graduates approaching him, he was a boy with some kind of paint or tattoos on his face and a dog, of all things, riding on his head.

"I don't recognize you. Were you in another class?" he asked of Naruto.

"Something like that." Naruto replied.

"Well, then I just thought I'd be friendly and warn you that you probably don't want to sit by the Uchiha boy next to you." Kiba said, sending a dark look to Sasuke as he did so. "He's not exactly very well liked, and it won't reflect well on you if people think you're being friendly with him."

"I'll be friendly with whoever I want." Naruto replied sharply, not at all liking the other boy's attitude. Glancing at Sasuke he saw that his brother looked amused, content to sit back and watch the show for the moment.

"I'd be careful who you used that tone of voice with." the annoying dog boy told him condescendingly. "You may not have noticed, but take a look at these." he added pointing to the markings on his face.

"You have tattoos and you think that makes you a tough guy?" Naruto inquired confused as to what he was getting at. Sasuke snickered at his response from beside him.

"No you idiot, these marks mean I'm an Inuzuka." he shot back angrily. He then calmed a bit and continued. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba by the way."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Naruto asked, not recognizing the name at all.

"Alright, dimwit," Kiba answered insultingly, "I'll go slowly and explain it so even you can understand. My clan is a pretty powerful clan. I don't recognize your clan symbol which means you're a nobody. A nobody like you shouldn't go making enemies of a big clan like mine."

The symbol he was referring to was the swirl on his orange shirt. Despite not knowing anything about his birth family or clan, he'd insisted on keeping it all this time. He considered it too much a part of who he was. He just didn't feel right wearing anything else.

"You don't know as much as you think you do if you're calling me a nobody." Naruto retorted smugly.

"Oh, and just who are you then Mr Bigshot?" Kiba asked as if humoring him.

"I'm the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Naruto replied. This wasn't something he would normally brag about, but he was looking forward to putting this arrogant boy in his place.

But rather than be impressed he just let out a large guffaw. "Yeah right." Kiba mocked. "I'm supposed to believe that a weak looking shorty like you is the powerful demon that everyone is so terrified of?"

Another chuckle from Sasuke did nothing to improve his mood. That was it. He wasn't going to take this anymore. Especially being reminded of his height. He just hadn't hit his growth spurt yet, that was all!

"Kiba, would just stop it already." a new voice said. Naruto and Kiba turned to the boy who had his hair in some sort of a spiky pony tail.

"Why do you care, Shikamaru?" Kiba fired at the other boy.

"I don't care if you want to get yourself killed." Shikamaru replied lazily, head resting on the desk in front of him as if he'd just woken up. "But please do it someplace where there isn't the risk of dragging the rest of us into it."

"Don't tell me you actually believe this idiot?" Kiba asked incredulously.

Sitting up straight, but still looking as if he could hardly be bothered to concern himself with this matter, he turned to Kiba and answered the boy. "I do believe him and I'll give you three reasons why. First, his eyes just turned red and I believe he's growing claws. Second, Akamaru is now cowering behind your leg. Third, he's giving off more chakra than everyone else in the room combined could match. Something you would realize if you'd ever learned to sense it."

Quickly confirming the first two reasons Shikamaru had listed, Kiba began to get a very nervous look as he tried to decide how to deal with the situation he'd created.

"So what if it's true. I'm still not afraid of you." Kiba insisted, not fooling anyone with his false bravado.

Just then, one of the teachers rushed in, probably having sensed the Kyuubi's chakra. He ran up to Kiba grabbing the boy by the shoulder. "What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at him.

"But Iruka-sensei ..." Kiba whined at his teacher.

"Shut up!" Iruka interrupted. "I don't want to hear another word from you today! Get to your seat now and behave yourself!"

Kiba turned around and headed back to where he'd arrived from, mumbling to himself as he went.

"I'm really sorry about whatever he did Uzumaki-san." Iruka said in an attempt to placate him. "I know Kiba can be hard to get along with at times."

Naruto released the Kyuubi's chakra, not really wanting to cause trouble, but Sasuke beat him to a response. "Don't worry about it sensei. Naruto is the same way. It was really just a couple of idiots bumping egos."

Iruka chuckled nervously, obviously unsure of the best way to respond to that. "Well, I'm going to go start team assignments." he said, having decided to avoid the issue entirely.

When Iruka had got everyone's attention, he began to read through the list. Naruto ignored most of it as the names were pretty meaningless to him. Finally, however, the part he was waiting for came.

"Team 7 will be Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hyuuga Hinata." Iruka announced before continuing on.

Naruto was thrilled to have Sasuke on his team but was surprised to hear the boy groan beside him.

"Is having me on your team that awful?" Naruto asked testily.

"It's not that." Sasuke replied. "It's our third teammate."

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked. He hadn't really cared about their third teammate but now that Sasuke brought it up he tried to recall if he knew anything about her. He did, actually, vaguely remember her, but all he could come up with was that she was quiet and kind of weird.

"You'll find out soon enough." Sasuke answered unhelpfully.

But it took Naruto longer than he'd have liked to get a definitive answer. As soon as it was time for lunch, she was out the door before he could get a chance to speak to her. When they'd begun waiting for their Jounin sensei he'd approached her again. But she ignored him completely, refusing to respond to anything he said.

Eventually Naruto had given up and gone back to simply sitting and waiting. So apparently their third teammate was rude and didn't talk much? Well, he'd find out more later. He'd force it out of Sasuke if nothing else.

As time passed, each of the other teams were taken from the room by their sensei and soon, only the three of them remained. Losing his patience, Naruto got up and positioned a dirty eraser over the door in a simple trap.

"You don't expect a Jounin to fall for that do you?" Sasuke asked dubiously.

"No, but I'm too bored to just sit around doing nothing." Naruto replied.

Their conversation was interrupted when a large object came hurtling through the window, shattering it. Kunai came out from the mass attaching to the floor and ceiling. This left a woman standing there wearing an outfit that would be called flashy if one was being polite. She was their new Jounin sensei, Mitarashi Anko, according the the large banner spread out behind her.

"So you're the lucky brats who have the privilege of working under me." Anko stated, breaking the stunned silence of her new students. "Well enough waiting around here, let's head to the roof for our first meeting. I hate being in a classroom longer than necessary. It brings back bad memories."

"What about this mess?" Sasuke asked, point to the broken glass on the floor and the banner still attached by kunai to the floor and ceiling.

"Don't worry about it." Anko replied, waving off his concerns. "Someone else will clean it up later."

Tired of being in the room himself Naruto opened the door to exit, only to realize his mistake as his own trap was sprung on him. Ducking back to avoid the falling eraser, he came just short of dodging it as it bounced off the tip of his nose sending out a cloud of chalk dust that set him to coughing.

"Idiot." Hinata called out from behind him in the first word he'd heard her speak.

******

They'd all made their way to the roof where they sat and waited for Anko to give them instructions on what to do next.

"So, now we're supposed to get to know each other." Anko declared. "No real structure, just say whatever you feel like."

"Good luck getting Hinata to say anything." Naruto muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear him.

As if to prove him wrong, the girl jumped up and began ranting. "Let me make a few things clear. I don't like you." she said pointing to Sasuke. "But at least you have the excuse that you couldn't help what clan you were born into."

"But you," she continued pointing to Naruto this time, "chose to be their faithful little lapdog and for that, I _loathe_ you."

She hardly paused for breath as she continued her tirade. "I'm well aware of that fact that the only reason you two are even on my team is to act as another hold over my clan. And I'm going to make you two regret your part in this little scheme."

Sasuke was rolling his eyes obviously used to this sort of outburst. Naruto now fully understood his earlier dismay at their team assignment. Sasuke may be willing to just sit there and take it, but Naruto wasn't about to.

"Hold on just a minute!" he yelled at the white eyed girl. "I haven't even done anything to you."

"So you deny patrolling around the village, flaunting your power, and terrorizing everyone in sight?" she asked heatedly.

"That's just something I do to practice my control." Naruto insisted. This crazy girl seemed determined to hate him, but how could she misinterpret his weekly patrols so badly?

"And it's necessary for your practice to follow a fixed route that takes you by the estates of all the clans who most strongly oppose the current Hokage?" she fired back sarcastically.

"If .. if that's even true I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Naruto replied defensively, never really having considered if their were some ulterior motive to the patrols.

"You're a horrible liar." Hinata mocked. "You expect me to believe you're really so stupid that you just didn't realize it?"

"Just shut up already!" Sasuke shouted, not willing to take it anymore. "I've told you a hundred time, there aren't any clans who want to overthrow my father. There's no hidden conspiracies and underground oppositions. Even your own clan members admit there's nothing of the sort."

"That's only because they know there'd be repercussions if they said otherwise." Hinata insisted, now on the defensive herself.

"How convenient." Sasuke replied. "And yet you can get away with saying these things somehow?"

Their argument was cutoff by Anko's raucous laughter. "You guys are getting along better than I expected. Now that we're all friends, I'm supposed to give you some sort of final test to see if you can really become Genin or if you have to go back to the academy."

A test? Naruto hadn't heard anything about a test. That wasn't even fair, he hadn't gone to the academy and studied. He'd never taken a test in life!

"But I don't really feel like doing that." Anko continued to Naruto's relief. "Besides, I'd be the one who got in trouble if you somehow failed."

"Won't you get in trouble for not giving us the test too?" Sasuke inquired.

"Alright then," Anko said thoughtfully, "think of it this way. Your test will be to not let anyone else find out you didn't take a test. If they find out, you fail. Plan it out among yourselves however you want. And meet me by the Hokage tower tomorrow morning at 10 for your first mission."

Without any further discussion Anko disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Well, that was interesting." Naruto stated flatly.

******

The next morning, Naruto was relieved that their sensei was actually on time. The four of them now entered the tower to find Fugaku sitting at a table next to Iruka and handing out missions.

"Sasuke, Naruto, good morning." Fugaku greeted them warmly. "I know you're not going to enjoy this very much, but just remember this is important practice."

He then handed Anko a scroll with the details of the mission. She opened it and read through it quickly.

"Alright team, let's head out." She ordered, marching towards the exit.

"So what's the mission?" Naruto asked excitedly as they were heading out the door.

"Forget the mission." Anko told him. "It's not worth doing. Instead, I'm going to use it as an opportunity to teach you a valuable lesson in intimidation."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Sasuke inquired.

"Follow me and find out." Anko called out, heading off towards some unknown destination. Naruto and Sasuke followed behind curious as to what this was about. Hinata brought up the rear, scowling silently as she'd been doing all day since they'd met up.

They soon arrived at a house in one of the residential sections of town. There was an average looking woman whom Naruto would guess to be around 35 or 40 years old standing in the yard.

"Are you the one who put in the request to have your garden weeded?" She asked the woman.

"That's right." the she answered. "I usually do it myself, but these D rank requests are practically free. So I thought I'd take it easy today and have someone do it for me."

Faster than his eyes could follow, Anko was right up next to their client with a kunai out and pressed against her neck.

"I'm so glad you're able to do it yourself." Anko said with false sweetness. "Because that's exactly what you're going to do. Then you're going to remit payment and tell them what a wonderful job our little team did. And if anything happens to slip and word gets to the Hokage what really happened … well, I'll just have to pay you another visit."

Pausing to let her words sink in, she smiled in a manner that gave her the appearance of a predator about to pounce. "And you'll remember that visit for a long time."

Releasing the woman, who seemed paralyzed in fear, Anko called out to her team. "Now on to our real plans for today."

The three of them were almost too stunned to follow, but shook off their shock and made their way after their sensei.

******

Sasuke looked around at the edge of the forest where they'd stopped a short distance from the village walls.

"Your mission will be to get from this starting point to where I'll be waiting, in a clearing about a mile from here, straight into the woods." Anko instructed them.

"A race?" Naruto asked. "Why did we have to come all the way out here just for a race?"

"It won't be so simple, brat" Anko replied. "I've already filled this section of forest with all manner of entertaining traps."

"Wait." Sasuke demanded. "This isn't a training ground or anything. This is just a normal forest that any civilian could wander into. And you filled it with traps?"

"The second part of your mission will be to go back into the forest and clear it of all remaining traps." Anko continued innocently.

"You just added that now!" Naruto accused.

"I did not!" Anko insisted.

"Did too!" Naruto fired back.

Such an eloquent debate. Sasuke was mortified that their sensei was stooping to his brother's level.

"Did not! And you have to do this without using the Kyuubi's chakra." Anko said smugly.

"That's not fair!" Naruto yelled.

"It is if I say it is." Anko taunted him. "Whine anymore and you'll be doing it blindfolded."

Thankfully, Naruto finally shut up.

"Hinata you start over there on the left." Anko ordered. "Naruto right down the center here. Sasuke over there to the right. Now get started."

Wasting no time, Sasuke hurried to his section of the forest, not wanting to be outdone. He moved along carefully, avoiding traps as he saw them. And she certainly had been thorough, he was passing dozens of trip wires, pitfalls, rope traps, and all sorts of other unpleasant setups.

At least she wasn't getting too carried away, as all the traps were easy to spot. Suddenly Sasuke got a dark premonition. Was their sensei really the type to show restraint? Realizing the answer to that, he refocused his attention, scanning the surrounding area carefully for anything he might have missed.

Sure enough, he found a second, near invisible trip wire hidden behind a much more noticeable one. It was currently located under his foot, having been stepped on immediately prior to his little epiphany.

Dodging to the side, he received a minor cut on his arm from one of the shuriken he hadn't quite avoided in the spread that had been coming for him. Unfortunately, he found himself setting off another trap when he landed, causing a boulder much larger than himself to begin plummetting towards him from above.

That woman was insane! She was seriously trying to kill him! Taking just a moment to make sure he wouldn't set anything else off, he dodged out of the way. Giving a sigh of relief when he'd confirmed he hadn't tripped any other traps. Only to be thrown several feet to where he would land face first in the dirt as an explosion went off behind him.

She'd put explosive tags on the boulder?! Worse, he'd felt himself set off more than one trap in his brief flight. Deciding he needed to get serious, he activated his Sharingan as he got up. He was forced to dodge, needles, kunai, shuriken, logs, and many other assorted objects as traps kept setting off more traps in a chain reaction even as he avoided them.

But he forced himself to stay in the same general area, and eventually it ran out of traps to use against him. He stood waiting for another minute before deciding it was safe to move on. He did not release his Sharingan when he did. Taking extra care the rest of the way, he avoided setting anything else off and before too long came to the clearing.

He spotted Anko off a short distance to his left. To his annoyance Hinata was there as well. Drawing closer, his annoyance grew as he saw the pristine condition she was in. It made a sharp contrast to his own dirty, disheveled appearance. It's because of the Byakugan he told himself. It was just too perfectly suited to this type of situation.

"Have a little trouble?" Anko taunted. "Hinata seemed to do fine. I suppose that just shows they gave Rookie of the Year to the right person."

He glared at the pair of them. For her part, Hinata seemed to be taking no pleasure in her victory. But then again, her emotional scale seemed limited to the range between openly angry and simply bitter.

"Hinata is the one who beat you?" Naruto asked as he stepped out of the woods.

Turning to Naruto he was shocked to see that he was in just as good of condition as Hinata. This was unacceptable. Hinata coming out unharmed was one thing, but he refused to believe Naruto had done so as well. In fact, he had to wonder ...

Walking up to Naruto, he punched him in the gut causing a poof of smoke. When it cleared, Naruto was still there, sans shirt. "So what happened to you?" he asked the bare chested boy.

"Well you see," Naruto began explaining, obviously embarrassed at being caught, "my shirt kind of caught fire so I had to take it off."

Pointing at the forest, Sasuke directed another question at Naruto. "Did you happen to take your burning shirt off somewhere in the vicinity of that smoke?"

"That's about right." he replied, looking at the rising plume of smoke.

"The Hokage is going to kill me if I burn down the woods!" yelled a panicked Anko as she charged back into the forest.

Once Anko was safely out of hearing range, Naruto burst out laughing. "She fell for it completely."

"You didn't really start a forest fire?" Sasuke asked. He was pretty sure he knew the answer but Naruto had the annoying tendency to withhold his explanations until you played along.

"The only fire out there is a controlled campfire designed to create a lot of smoke." Naruto answered, then rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "The real fun is what's waiting for her by the fire. I redid a number of her traps and added a few of my own."

"You did all that and still got here almost as quickly as I did?" Sasuke asked dubiously.

"Discounting the jinchuuriki thing, you may be a more skilled ninja than me." Naruto admitted in a rare showing of humility. "But traps are somewhat of a specialty of mine."

That was true, Sasuke grudgingly admitted to himself. But it still galled him that he'd had the most trouble of the three of them.

"Just what are you plotting trying to kill our sensei?" Hinata asked Naruto suspiciously.

"Trying to kill her?" Naruto answered in bewilderment. "What gave you that idea? She's a Jounin. There's no way that will kill her. I'll be lucky if she even sets anything off. The only hope I have of that is that she's so distracted by the fire she's careless and trips one. And even then it'll just be a nuisance to her."

"Then why are you doing it?" she inquired of him.

"Why else? For fun." Naruto answered with a goofy grin.

"Just so you know," Sasuke told Naruto., "the smoke stopped. She's probably on her way back here."

"Gah! I've got to get out of here!" Naruto said before turning to run.

"You don't need to go anywhere." Anko said calmly from behind the panicked boy. "It was a nice try kid but you'll have to do better than that to catch me."

"Um ... sensei ..." Hinata said hesitantly.

"What is it Hinata?" Anko asked cheerfully.

"Your ... um .. bangs." Hinata said, touching her own hair to indicate the spot.

The bangs she was referring to on Anko were now noticeably uneven, looking like a large section of hair on one side had been cleanly slice off. This was enough to be easily noticed by Anko simply by touching it and her expression quickly changed from cheerful to horrified and then to furious.

"Get back here you brat!" she screeched at Naruto, grabbing him before he'd gone far in his resumed attempt to flee. "You're going to pay for that!"

Sasuke decided it might be a good idea to come to his brother's defense as he was somewhat concerned about what their sensei would do to him. "Before you do anything, you might want to remember that you're holding the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi himself. And beyond that, the Hokage is quite fond of him."

Anko paused for a second to consider that, relieving Sasuke that his words had gotten through her blind rage.

"You think I care about that?" Anko yelled while bashing both Sasuke and Naruto over the head with one of her fists.

"Why did you hit me too?" Sasuke whined.

"Because I felt like it." Anko said angrily. "Now all three of you get back in there and finish clearing out the traps. And if I find you missed even one, you'll regret it tomorrow."

The three of them rushed in without delay, feeling safer with the traps then with the one who set them. "She's completely insane." Sasuke complained.

"I don't know." Naruto said noncommittally. "I kind of like her."

******

As was often the case, Sasuke, Naruto, and their mom were the only ones present for dinner that night.

"So, how was your first day on the job?" their mom asked.

"It was pretty boring." Sasuke lied. There was no need to worry their mother by telling her what kind of teacher they had.

"No it wasn't." Naruto chimed in, completely missing what Sasuke was trying to do. "That trapped forest was a lot of fun."

"Traps?" she inquired worriedly. "Shouldn't you just be doing D rank missions?"

"Well, after we finished our mission for the day, we spent some time doing a little training on how to deal with traps." Sasuke answered, while stepping harshly on Naruto's foot under the table to try to indicate he needed to stay quiet.

He got the hint, but decided to be stubborn about it, jumping to his feet and yelling "Hey! What did you do that for? You're the one who said she was a crazy psychopath who was trying to kill us!"

"Maybe I should talk to your father about this." she suggested, now clearly distraught. "She doesn't sound like she's a very good sensei."

This was just the sort of situation he was hoping to avoid. He wasn't sure why his father had picked Anko as their sensei, but he wasn't likely to change his mind over something like this. The only purpose this served was to worry their mother.

"Mom, relax." Sasuke told her soothingly. "I didn't actually mean that. The training was intense, but I'm sure it wasn't very dangerous. She would have used blunted weapons and taken every precaution to make sure we weren't hurt. She's just doing her best to prepare us for real missions so we'll be able to handle them safely."

"Well, if you're sure." she answered, calming down somewhat.

"Yeah," Naruto added, "she's a lot of fun. I like the way she thinks."

"I think I'm going to talk to your father after all." she declared, once again worried.

******

"Do you really think it's a good idea to keep doing this?" Sasuke inquired of Anko. Their second day as a team had started much like the first, with the client of a D ranked mission being scared into doing the job he paid for himself.

"Aren't we supposed to be doing them for a reason?" asked Sasuke when he received no answer to his first question.

"Yeah. They're supposed to be to promote teamwork." Anko answered. "But seeing as the average Genin team will lose two out of their three members in the first two years it seems kind of pointless to me. Besides, they're boring and that's reason enough not to do them."

"You just made that number up." Sasuke accused her.

"I can make it accurate too." Anko retorted, smiling sweetly all the while. "Right now if you'd like."

"So what are we doing today?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke couldn't expect to get any support from him. He probably preferred doing whatever crazy scheme their sensei would come up with to a nice boring mission. And Hinata wasn't likely to say anything unless she could think of some paranoid conspiracy theory to accuse them of.

"Well, I thought we'd do a little sparring today." she responded.

"That sounds boring." Naruto whined. "Yesterday's training was a lot more exciting than that. Can't you come up with something better?"

Case in point on his brother.

"Well, since you mention it, I did have one little idea I was thinking of to spice things up." Anko replied theatrically. "We're still going to spar, but I think it might be a good idea to get your teammates used to you fighting with Kyuubi's power. It wouldn't do for them to be unaware of what you're capable of."

"Naruto isn't supposed to use the Kyuubi's chakra unless Tenzo or Itachi are around." Sasuke informed Anko hoping to halt this plan before it got going.

"Don't worry so much, Sasuke." Naruto said dismissively. "I won't go beyond my one tailed form. It'll be fine if I only go that far."

"Yeah. Don't worry so much, Sasuke" Anko agreed. "I'm a Jounin too, and I can keep things under control."

Sasuke sighed inwardly. Those two played off each other far too well. They were too much alike and seemed to just draw out the worst in each other. He was sure this would lead to no shortage of headaches in his future.

They'd just arrived at the empty training ground Anko must have been leading them to, so he resigned himself to a painful morning of sparring. His brother wasn't known for being gentle during spars.

"Let's get started." Anko said impatiently. "You do whatever it is you do, Naruto, and when you're ready start fighting the other two."

Two against one. Maybe they'd be able to manage something like that. Naruto was obediently powering up and a tail was beginning to form behind him, so Sasuke activated his Sharingan and braced himself, preparing for the inevitable attack. Naruto could go for Hinata first, but knowing his brother he didn't count that likely.

Sure enough, Naruto sprang at Sasuke far faster than he could in a normal spar. It was the first time he'd fought him in this form since he activated his Sharingan and he found he was able to follow the boy's speed now. But that was little comfort as his body simply refused to react fast enough to do anything about it, and he was sent hurtling backwards with a blow to the chest.

Hinata chose that moment to charge Naruto, herself, but was casually swatted aside before she'd reached him. Sasuke ran towards where she'd been tossed by the blow. He didn't relish the notion of working with Hinata, but knew that was his only hope of holding his own in this fight.

Thankfully, she seemed to come to the same conclusion and after getting up the two of them moved into a flanking position around Naruto. But despite working together, the next couple of minutes proved painful for the two. The few blows they managed to get in had no apparent effect. Sasuke's only consolation was that the Gentle Fist seemed completely useless against him as well.

Naruto continued to toy with them, grabbing them both and tossing them over Anko's head. Their sensei was sitting on the ground, watching the proceedings and casually drinking some tea she'd brought along. Sasuke turned back to see Naruto running towards them again while they were still in flight and braced himself for another assault.

But it didn't come. Instead, as he ran past Anko, he suddenly turned and caught her off guard with a powerful blow that sent her hurtling in the opposite direction, and right through a training post that gave way under her momentum. Naruto immediately dispersed the demonic chakra around him, but Sasuke was too stunned to take advantage of that, hardly even noticing his own landing.

"I'm sorry!" called out Naruto. "When I'm in that form I can't really control myself once I get going. I just attack anything near me."

Anko leaped easily to her feet, dusting herself off. "Well, I suppose it was my idea to do this." she admitted much more graciously than Sasuke would have expected. "Still, if you're that out of control, it's probably best to stop there before you hurt one of them. I have some things to do anyway, so we're done for today."

Then she just left. Sasuke still couldn't believe she had actually reacted so reasonably to that. But the three Genin finally pulled themselves together and departed. Sasuke walked with Naruto for a while in silence before finally asking, "What was that all about? You've had perfect control of your one tailed form for a long time."

"Yeah," Naruto responded, "but I still owed her a blow from yesterday's training. I can try to get one in for you too if you'd like."

"Have you ever considered that doing this would just come back to haunt you?" Sasuke inquired, knowing that Naruto had a tendency not to think these things through.

"You don't really think she'd be so petty as to get back at me over one little attack that she believes to have been caused by the Kyuubi's influence do you?" he countered.

Immediately upon finishing his statement there was a loud crash as something fell on top of Naruto sending him face first into the dirt.

"Yes I do." Sasuke said, appreciating the timing of Naruto's question.

"Sorry." Anko called down from the top of the building she was standing on. "I seem to have dropped my box of scrap metal I was carrying with me. On the roof. Because that's perfectly normal to do. I hope you'll forgive me for my clumsiness."

She then sped off across the rooftops, cackling as she went.

Naruto slowly got up. "She could have broken my neck!" he yelled in protest of her actions. "I'll get her back for this, just you wait and see."

Deciding it was time for an intervention, Sasuke grabbed his brother's shoulders. "Naruto. Look at me." he demanded.

When he had the blond boy's attention he continued. "I'm telling you this for your own good. Stop antagonizing the psychopath before you wind up dead."

"But she's so much fun to mess with." Naruto whined.

"Was it fun to have a box of metal dropped on your head?" Sasuke queried.

Naruto was getting defensive now. "Well, no but ..."

"And aren't there other people who are fun to 'mess with' who don't drop heavy objects on you from rooftops?" Sasuke interrupted to keep his momentum going.

"I suppose." he replied slowly as if the words were being dragged from his mouth.

"Then will you stop provoking Anko?" Sasuke asked going for the kill.

"Alright already, I'll leave her alone." he told Sasuke caving at last. "For now." he added in a whisper under his breath that Sasuke could barely make out. But he pretended he didn't hear it, knowing that was the best he would get.

******

**AN**

First of all is Hinata. This was the character in particular that was the motivation for my warning back at the start of chapter 1. I expect a lot of people to not be fond of how extremely OOC she is. But I didn't change her personality around just for kicks. In my story, she was the same Hinata as canon right up until the AU split at the start of this story. Something changed her and you'll have to wait to find out what.

This chapter had a very different tone from the last chapter, and one that I find much easier to write. But those of you who enjoyed the deeper chapters shouldn't worry too much. I don't plan on keeping the story this lighthearted for long. Next chapter will be more Hinata centric and will begin to answer some of the questions many of you must have.

Let me know your thoughts, I like nothing more than a review that makes me think. I'm convinced the story is already better, thanks to the extra consideration I put into this chapter, than it would have been without the reviews. One review in particular, even inspired me on how to handle a major subplot a few chapters from here that I'd been stuck on. I'll make sure to credit it when the chapter is posted.


	4. Chapter 4

"I hate our team." moaned Sasuke as he and Naruto waited for the targets of his ire. They'd arrived first today at their usual meeting place. Once everyone was here, they'd continue their routine and get another mission they wouldn't do.

"It's not so bad." Naruto claimed.

"Anko told us to study up on techniques to resist interrogations." Sasuke pointed out. "You know she's going to put our skills to the test."

"It's not uncommon training to give ninja." Naruto countered, trying not to let his own apprehension at that thought show.

"Forget that whole idiots have to stick together thing you have going with sensei." Sasuke said, changing the subject, "Even you can't have anything good to say about Hinata."

"Well, sure she's a little weird." Naruto admitted. "But I don't think she's really that bad a person."

Sasuke scoffed at his words. "A _little_ weird. That's something of an understatement. And just to remind you, I believe the word she used to describe her opinion of you was 'loathe'."

"She just doesn't know us very well." Naruto said defensively. He could certainly see why Sasuke would feel so negatively about Hinata. But seeing as they were likely to be working together for a while, Naruto thought he should try to play peacemaker.

"If we give her a chance and show her that were good people, I'm sure she'll come around eventually." Naruto argued.

"If you give her a chance, the only thing you're likely to find is that she'll use it to stick a knife in your back." Sasuke declared, refusing to be swayed.

It looked like he would have to wait if he wanted to try again to convince Sasuke, as he spotted the subject of their debate approaching them now. Hinata arrived, and stood a short distance away from them, bringing an uncomfortable silence to the area as they waited for their sensei. She wasn't usually late, but today they were waiting half an hour before she arrived.

"Glad you guys finally showed up." Anko called out cheerfully. Her words succeeded in getting under his skin, but for once, Naruto held his tongue, refusing to give her the pleasure of showing it.

When it became clear that no one was going to contradict her, she shrugged and led them inside the building and up to the desk where Fugaku and Iruka were waiting, as usual.

"Welcome." Fugaku greeted them. "For today's missions we have a few options. You can find a missing cat, deliver some groceries, babysit ..."

"Enough with that garbage!" Anko yelled out, cutting off the Hokage. "My team needs a real mission."

Iruka looked like he was choking on something in response to her outburst, but Fugaku wasn't phased.

"And what brought this on?" Fugaku asked. "It's not like you've been doing the missions I assigned you in the first place."

Naruto saw Sasuke smirking at her having been caught, but was worried himself. Was Fugaku going to make them do D class missions now?

"Which one if those little worms squealed?" Anko demanded to know.

"None of them informed me." Fugaku replied. "I've simply been keeping an eye on you. My wife has been quite vocal lately about her concerns regarding you. Still, if you promise to actually do it, I have a C class mission I could let you do."

"C isn't all that much better than D." Anko complained. "But if it interests me I'll consider it."

"Well then, for all our sakes, let's hope it does." Fugaku bantered. "I don't think our next client would appreciate your recent methods."

Returning to business, he began to explain the mission. "We have received a report that illegal human trafficking is taking place in a town in the Southeastern corner of the country. We've been hired by the Fire Daimyo to put an end to this practice and bring those responsible to justice."

"Far from ideal, but I suppose it will do." Anko said, taking the mission report and reading it over. "Well team, gather enough supplies for a few days and meet me by the gate in two hours."

******

"What are you two doing back so soon?" their mom asked.

"We're getting ready for a C class mission." Naruto answered excitedly. "We're going to be out of the village for a few days."

"C class?" she asked, looking worried at the thought. "Should you really be doing one so soon?"

"Itachi was doing more dangerous missions than this, when he was younger than we are." Sasuke pointed out.

"I know." their mom replied. "But that doesn't make me worry any less. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"We will." Sasuke assured her.

"And don't just pack food." she scolded Naruto, who was already going through the cabinets and stuffing a backpack full of anything that caught his eye. "Make sure to bring enough clean clothes too."

"I will." Naruto responded mechanically but continued going through the food.

"And you still haven't promised me you'd be careful, Naruto." she added.

"I promise. Don't worry so much." complied Naruto.

"Then good luck on your mission." their mom encouraged them. "I'm proud of you boys."

******

They arrived at their meeting place to find Hinata already there. And they were waiting less than a minute before Anko showed up.

"I have got to teach you three how to use a storage seal." she called out upon seeing the large amount of equipment each of the Genin were carrying. "What sort of a ninja walks around with that much junk? Just give them to me for now and I'll take care of it. It's embarrassing just to be seen with you."

She quickly sealed Hinata and Sasuke's equipment into scrolls, but had to wait on Naruto who was rifling through his backpack.

"Hold on a second. Just let me grab something to snack on." he requested.

He quickly pulled out a large bag of chips before handing off everything else to Anko who sealed it. Opening his chips he was about to start eating when the bag was snatched from him by his sensei.

"Hey! Those are mine." he protested.

"Consider it payment for sealing your stuff so you don't have to lug it around." she told him without a trace of sympathy.

Naruto had more snacks, but they were all sealed now, and he doubted Anko would be kind enough to let him get them out. He had to think fast if he wanted anything to eat before they stopped for a meal. Luckily, thinking on his feet was a skill he considered himself something of an expert on, and he had just the plan. This was sure to work.

"Are you sure you should be eating that?" Naruto asked, trying his best to sound genuinely concerned. "You look like you've been putting on a little weight lately."

In a flash she was right next to him slamming her fist into the top of his head.

"I'll have you know I'm in the best shape of my life." Anko insisted. "I'm not at all worried about eating these."

She then took a chip and chewed it vigorously, as if that would, somehow, better prove her point. But then she tossed the rest of the bag off to the side, spilling its contents and proving that his words had gotten to her.

"What did you do that for?" Naruto demanded of her.

"I didn't like them." she answered simply.

"Then why didn't you let me have the rest?" Naruto snarled back.

"Because I don't like you either." she replied sharply.

******

The first day of their mission had been uneventful and they'd made good time. They were going to camp along the roadside for the night, but should arrive at their destination early the next day. Hinata certainly hadn't expected a mission like this today, but it was just what she needed.

She ate dinner quickly, then immediately retired to her tent. Then she waited. Listening to the rest of her team talk only continued to make her tenser as she thought over what she planned to do. Eventually, they did all turn in as well, but still she waited. Long enough to give them more than enough time to fall asleep.

Finally, satisfied she'd waited long enough, Hinata got up and left her tent. As stealthily as she could, she made her way to Naruto's tent and entered it. Upon doing so she was startled to see that her teammate was awake and standing in his tent.

"You can't sleep either, Hinata?" he asked her. "It's my first time out of the village and I'm just too excited to fall asleep."

"I heard you up and came to see what you were up to." she lied hoping he would believe that.

"I'm not up to anything." he protested, I just can't sleep.

"Then what's that?" Hinata asked him while pointing to the opposite end of the tent and trying to sound as suspicious as possible.

"What's what?" Naruto asked turning around in an attempt to figure out what she was referring to.

But that was the opening she was looking for, so she slipped out the knife she'd been hiding in her sleeve. Swiftly, she stabbed it into Naruto's back with enough force to bury it up to the hilt and throw him face first into the floor of his tent. Her mind froze for a second in the shock of what she'd just done. She'd never killed anyone before. A sudden pang of guilt surged up but she quickly shook it off. He'd deserved what he got.

Looking over her work she silently berated herself for not hitting his heart. The tension of the moment must have made her target the first place she could rather than aiming for a vital area. But that wouldn't matter. It was coated in a very strong poison, and he should be dead in seconds if he wasn't already.

The poison was a favorite of Iwa assassins, and had not been easy for her to obtain. Now she just needed to make sure there was no evidence linking this to her. Reaching out to begin wiping fingerprints off the hilt of the knife she had held, she jerked back in surprise when a red aura sprang up around the boy who should be dead.

The knife was then expelled from his body as if of its own accord, and the wound was closing up behind it. As if that wasn't enough, he was actually getting to his feet! He was going to kill her! What could she do to someone who could not only survive that, but heal it in seconds?

Panicking, she fled from the tent and continued running at top speed into the woods near their campsite. She was hoping she could lose him before he recovered enough to chase her. So on she ran, like a coward. She should have tried to finish him off. Maybe she could have done something before he'd fully recovered.

Hinata had promised herself she'd never be the weak, scared, little girl she used to be. Even her father had noticed her change and had slowly switched from insults to encouragement. But the first time she faced any real danger, she'd shown her true colors once again.

But she had to calm down. She'd messed up, but she couldn't run. Even if she got away, she knew there would be repercussions. She needed to head back and accept responsibility for her actions. If she did, maybe she'd be the only one to suffer for her failure.

Turning around, Hinata quickly made her way back to her tent and waited for someone to come for her. She heard voices shortly after she'd returned.

"So what was with the whole Kyuubi chakra thing?" Anko called out from the direction of Naruto's tent. It looked like it was really over. Naruto had definitely recovered if she was asking him so calmly.

"It was nothing, just a bad dream." Naruto replied.

A bad dream? Had the healing process somehow destroyed his memories of the event? No, even if that were true, he had the knife still in his tent and a hole in the back of his shirt. Even if he couldn't remember who had attacked him, why wouldn't he mention it? Did he not trust their sensei?

She continued waiting in her tent for Naruto to do something, but after twenty minutes, she just couldn't take it anymore. She was going to find out what he was thinking.

******

Naruto saw Hinata enter his tent for the second time that night.

"I hope you haven't come back to try again." he quipped, but sincerely meant the words, despite the light tone in which he'd given them.

"Why haven't you told anyone?" Hinata asked. Considering she was the was one who had tried to kill him, he thought it was odd that she looked more nervous that he felt.

It was a good question though, letting an attempted assassin go free wasn't considered normal behavior. "I wanted to hear from you why you did it." he told her. "There must be some reason you thought it was necessary. I don't think you'd just do it under the pay of some other country or anything like that."

"You expect me to believe that?" Hinata asked angrily. "I think I see what you're doing. You're just trying to trick me into trusting you. There must be something you want from me. I can't believe you'd stoop so low. And to think that back when we were in the academy together, I used to ..."

Hinata's words trailed off as she pressed her two pointer fingers together and looked down at them as if they were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. And was she blushing?

"Used to what?" Naruto asked, curious about her strange behavior. His words snapped her out it and she once again resumed glaring at him, looking even angrier than before.

"That's not important!" she snapped at him, as if she hadn't been the one to bring it up herself. "Just know that I won't fall for your ploys. And don't think that just because you can now have me killed at any time, that it'll give you any hold over me."

Then she stormed out of his tent. She certainly was a weird girl. He had no idea what to make of that whole conversation. And despite what he'd told her, he wasn't letting her go simply to hear why she did it. He knew that his decision was stupid. You didn't just let someone who tried to kill you roam free.

Especially one who was going to constantly be so close to you if they ever decided to try again. He had lived, but it had been a closer call than it probably looked to her. He'd barely been able to resist loosing consciousness long enough to call upon the Kyuubi's chakra to heal him.

But he just couldn't bring himself to turn her in. If Sasuke ever found out she actually had stuck a knife in his back, he'd never hear the end of it. He was willing to risk her trying again to avoid that fate.

******

As eventful as the night had been, Naruto had somehow managed to get some sleep. Not nearly enough, and he was not at all happy when Sasuke had come to wake him in the morning. Somehow Hinata didn't appear tired at all, which annoyed him a bit. But hopefully she was just better at hiding her state.

Actually, he wondered ... briefly accessing some of the Kyuubi's chakra, he felt his mind clear and come to full wakefulness. Releasing it, he remained just as alert, apparently having 'healed' his lack of sleep.

"What was that about?" Anko asked him.

"Better than coffee." he replied cheerfully, now back to his normal energetic self.

Their trip remained uneventful, and they soon came to the small town they were supposed to investigate.

"So, where do we start?" Naruto asked.

"We'll just ask around." Anko answered, walking up to a random villager who was out on the streets that morning.

"Who runs the slaving business around here?" she asked him.

"I don't know what you've heard," he replied curtly, "but there is no slaving business around here."

Anko grabbed the man's shirt and easily lifted him off the ground with one arm, then addressed him a second time. "Look, you can tell me, and maybe this guy will find out and kill you later. Or you can refuse to tell me and I'll definitely kill you right now."

"If it's about slaves, everything goes through Tarou." he spilled out. "Just turn right on that road up there and it's a large house at the end of the street."

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" she asked releasing the man. He quickly scurried off and was soon out of sight. Naruto thought the scene had been amusing. He wished he could intimidate so easily, but no one seemed to take a kid seriously. At least not until he transformed.

"Let's go finish this mission." Anko ordered. The four of them followed the directions they'd received and soon arrived at the house. Large was certainly a description that fit, as the white building could almost be described as a mansion. The town wasn't very big, and most of it seemed pretty run down, so a building of this size, that seemed very well taken care of, kind of stuck out.

"So how do you want to go about investigating this place?" Sasuke asked.

"We don't need to investigate." Anko responded. "That man was too terrified of me to lie."

Walking up the steps, Anko quickly opened the door and went inside. The rest of her team scurried after her to see what was happening.

"Are you Tarou?" she asked as they were heading inside.

Inside was a very large, well furnished room. A man in a suit sat at a very fancy desk on the other side of the room, surrounded by half a dozen thugs. The most shocking part of the room, however, was the more than a dozen cages filled with humans ranging in ages from children to young adults.

"Yes I am." the suit wearing man replied. "You here to sell those kids? I'll give you a good price for them."

"As tempting as that is, I'm actually here to shut you down." she responded calmly.

The seven men in the room burst into laughter at that remark. This continued until one of the loudest guards suddenly found himself unable to continue, as his windpipe became obstructed by a kunai that had just appeared in his throat.

"You'll pay for that!" Tarou yelled upon realizing what had happened. The rest of the men brandished their weapons and prepared to attack. But they didn't get to do much as Anko swept through them finishing them off with little real effort. Then she turned on Tarou in order to finish things.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled. "Don't kill him!"

"Why not?" Anko asked, not looking happy at being interrupted. "We were ordered to end the slave trade. So let's kill him and then we can go home."

Hinata just looked at him suspiciously. Knowing her, she'd probably come to the conclusion he was somehow working with the man or something.

"But what about all the slaves he's already sold?" Naruto asked, desperate to convince her. "He's the only one with info on the buyers."

"Yes I'll tell you everything you want to know! Just don't kill me!" Tarou pleaded, frantically groveling on the floor.

"And we need to figure out what to do with these captives." Naruto added. "Some of them are just kids."

"I can help with that." one of the men in the cages told them. "I'm an investigator under the employ of the Fire Daimyo. I was sent to look into some rumors of this sort of thing going on in the area. Tarou discovered me snooping, and when I refused to be bought out, I was imprisoned. I'm just glad that my failure to report led to you being hired. I can see to it that those who have families are reunited with them, and make sure the rest are taken care of."

"Fine." Anko said. "Tell us where the keys are and write up everything you know. But be quick about it, I'm not known for my patience."

"Thank you! You won't regret this." Tarou called out. Grabbing a key ring from his pocket he tossed it to Anko before running to his desk and rifling through papers. He began stacking some on his desk writing notes on a few as he went. Meanwhile, Anko had given the keys to Sasuke, who was going around releasing everyone from their cages.

"That's everything I know!" Tarou called out.

"Good." Anko answered then walked over to him and snapped his neck, smiling all the while."

"What?" she asked in response to Naruto's accusing look. "He said that was everything he knows. And human trafficking is subject to the death penalty. It doesn't make sense to transport him back just to have him killed there instead of here."

"Shouldn't you have let us handle this and only helped if we needed it?" Naruto asked accusingly. "How else are we going to improve?"

"This was the first real action I've had since taking on you brats." Anko answered. "You really think I was going to let you have all the fun?"

While that was going on, Sasuke finished releasing all the captives, and the youngest ones were swarming around Anko.

"Thank you so much nee-san!"

"I'll never forget this!"

"That was so awesome!"

The youngest, a little girl of about six or seven was simply hugging Anko's leg and sobbing.

"Hey! Back off!" Anko called out, seeming flustered by the attention. "I'm scarier than those man were. I just killed seven people for crying out loud. Shouldn't you be terrified of me or something?"

Her words didn't discourage them as she continued to be mauled by grateful children. "Help!" she called out pleadingly to her team.

Sasuke just snickered and Naruto wasn't about to aid her in this either.

******

Anko had finally extracted herself, and the four of them had begun their journey home. It was a boring trip so far, and they'd stopped to camp for the night. Naruto was sitting in his tent, once again having trouble sleeping. But with what had happened last night, that wasn't too surprising. He told himself it was foolish, but he kept almost expecting to look up and see Hinata in his tent again.

It turned out to not be as foolish as he'd thought, as when he looked up upon hearing a noise, there she was.

"You really need to stop this habit of yours." Naruto joked.

"What was with you pretending to care about the slaves?" Hinata asked accusingly. "I already told you I'm not going to fall for your nice guy act."

"It wasn't an act!" Naruto insisted. He just didn't know how to reason with this girl.

"You really think I'll believe you're some sort of a humanitarian after all the Uchiha clan has done?" she asked, making her disbelief very clear.

"Look I understand you hate the Uchiha Clan." Naruto told her. "But I really don't have any idea what you're talking about. Just think about it. They wanted to take me in and convince me to work with them. So why would they have told me any of their darkest secrets?"

"I still don't know what you want, but I'll humor you." Hinata replied, not sounding at all swayed by his words. "As long as we're pretending, I'll start at the beginning and tell you that I have a younger sister named Hanabi."

Naruto hadn't known that, but simply nodded for her to go on. He was afraid anything he said might set her off again, and he was finally getting something out of his teammate.

Thankfully she continued. "On the night the Uchiha Clan took over she was abducted, along with many other children from various clans in Konoha. Whenever one of the clans protested their actions too strongly, the hostages were used as examples."

Naruto sat stunned. She couldn't be claiming what he thought she was claiming. Could she?

"My father was particular stubborn, and Hanabi was forced to suffer for it numerous times." Hinata paused to wipe some moisture from her eyes having become very emotional in the telling.

Her face then turned from sorrow back to anger. "And they were brutal. They always showed off their handiwork too. They seemed to take particular joy from making me see the results of their torture."

"Do you have any idea how many times I had to see my little sister beaten, bruised, and bloody?" she demanded of him. "Sometimes I could hardly believe she was alive. Each time I saw her she was covered in more scars from cuts, burns, and whatever else they did her. Not even her face was spared."

If she had told him this a few years ago, he'd have jumped up and joined her in her condemnation. But now he didn't want to hear this, he didn't want to think about it. His wishes weren't considered as she pressed on.

"Despite it all, my father never stopped resisting." she informed him. "Never stopped trying to convince the other clans to refuse Uchiha rule. That is, up until they started parading you around. Seeing they had a loyal follower with access to the Kyuubi's power seemed to drain his will to resist."

She paused a second considering. "I suppose I should almost thank you for that, as it did stop my sister's suffering. But I'd already sworn that I would grow stronger, and do everything I could to make them pay. If you were dead, maybe everyone could finally be convinced to rebel."

Naruto wanted to call her a liar. To scream out that what she said couldn't be true. The Uchiha Clan had given him everything he had. He wanted her to just be making this all up in some plot to turn him against them.

But looking at her now, and having heard her emotion throughout her tale, he just couldn't imagine her deceiving him about this.

"I believe you." he told her softly. Then firming his voice he continued. "And I promise you I'll do what I can to get the hostages freed."

Her eyes widened at his response, but quickly narrowed again. "That's easy to say. But if you want me to believe you, you'll have to actually do something about it."

"Still," she added, "I will admit it's at least possible that Fugaku has just been manipulating you, and you're innocent of everything. Highly unlikely, but possible. However, if I find out this is just some plot of yours, and you're just toying with me ... I'll kill you."

"If that happens, you'd better do a better job than last time." Naruto quipped, not able to resist the joke despite the mood.

"I will." she vowed, no hint of humor in her response.

******

Hinata sat in her tent, contemplating things. She didn't know what had possessed her to say all of that to Naruto. Probably the same thing that made her almost happy to hear he believed her. That wanted to believe his promise in return. That simply desired him to still be the same bright, cheerful, confident boy who never gave up or let anything keep him down. The one that in only a short month at the academy, had won her admiration for being the type of person she wanted to be.

But she knew she had to bury that part of her deeply. She couldn't afford to let it cloud her judgment. To prevent her from doing what was necessary for her clan and Konoha. To stop her from finishing what she started and killing Naruto.

But why was she finding it so much harder to convince herself that was necessary this time around?

******

"No." Fugaku stated. "I won't allow it."

"We've already agreed that a war would be a great way to sway opinion in your favor." Danzo argued. "A decisive victory will make a hero out of you among the populace."

"I know all this." Fugaku retorted. "But Suna is our ally. It won't reflect well upon me to betray them. There are other nations to war with."

"I can easily make it appear they were negotiating with other nations for an alliance against us." Danzo insisted. "Our attack would just be a preemptive strike to prevent that. And Suna is the weakest of the great powers at this time. It's important that we have a clear and swift victory."

"The upcoming Chuunin Exams in Suna will make a great cover to sneak in some agents as well." he added. "The fools were actually eager to host the exam and show they were still relevant. Why anyone would agree to allow foreign shinobi access to their city is beyond me."

"I still forbid it." Fugaku declared with finality. "It's simply too great a risk of backfiring. If they could ever prove we'd simply made up the evidence, we'd be right back to clans openly resisting our authority."

"I will start this war whether you approve of it or not." Danzo threatened. "I suggest you make proper preparations for it."

Fugaku locked gazes with Danzo as if in a battle of wills. But it was Fugaku who backed down.

"Fine." he conceded. "But if we're going to use your plan, I suggest encouraging our new rookie teams to participate in the exam. There are a number of members of prominent clans among them. Their relatives might have more motivation to put in their best effort if they were in the middle of the war."

"I'm glad your mind is as sharp as ever once pointed in the right direction. I'll see to it right away."

******

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter now that things are moving a bit. I don't think I need to preview much about the next chapter, as I should have just made it pretty clear what I'm planning.

Naruto has now been forced to face some facts about the Uchiha Clan, but how will he react to it? And why am I asking my readers when I'm the only one who knows?

**SPOILER WARNING –** I don't want to give away anything too drastic about my plot in advance, but this next part will spoil more than I usually do. So consider yourself warned.

There will be a time when Naruto is going to have to make a choice about whether or not to support the Uchiha Clan. I believe many of you will have figured that out already. I hope that by the time that happens, I will have been able to properly portray how this will be a difficult decision for Naruto.

Until then, I'd love to hear how my readers feel on the issue. Which way do you hope he'll choose? I've already decided and won't change my mind because you want me to. But I'd be interested to see how many people would prefer each option.


	5. Chapter 5

"I've got news for you boys," Fugaku announced as they were having dinner together. His presence left Itachi as the only absent member of the family today.

"I asked Anko to allow me to inform you myself," he continued. "Your team has been nominated for the upcoming Chuunin Exams and I've agreed to let you participate."

"Really?" Naruto called out enthusiastically. "That's great!"

"Are you sure they're ready for that?" their mom asked.

"I wouldn't let them participate if I wasn't certain they could handle it," Fugaku assured her. "We had a great group of graduates this year. All three rookie teams will be participating in the exams, and I can honestly say that they're the best of the three. As long as they aren't looking for trouble, they should have very little to worry about."

She seemed to consider his words. "Naruto, promise me you won't cause any incidents," she ordered him.

"Why are you singling me out?" Naruto protested. "Why not tell Sasuke too?"

"Because I'm smart enough not to deliberately antagonize all the other examinees," Sasuke answered for her.

"Naruto," she called out impatiently.

"Alright, I promise to be completely dull and boring during the entire exam and not have any fun," Naruto conceded petulantly.

Despite his attitude she accepted his response and the rest of dinner was filled mostly with small talk. After finishing the meal, Fugaku called Naruto and Sasuke over while their mother was cleaning up.

"I need you two to listen carefully and tell no one of this," Fugaku commanded softly to ensure his wife didn't overhear from the other room. "This isn't going to be a simple Chuunin Exam. There's going to be a war while you're there."

He now had their full attention. Going to war? Why? Naruto's wasn't exactly an expert of international politics. He did at least know who the five great shinobi powers were. There was Konoha and Iwa and ... um ... well, he knew there were five anyway. But he hadn't the slightest idea what would bring about a war.

"We have received reports that Suna has their own jinchuuriki, a boy named Gaara," Fugaku continued. "Naruto, it will be your mission to track him down and take him out. Sasuke, you and the rest of the Genin will be sticking together as a squad under the direction of some of the Jounin instructors."

"When will this be taking place?" Sasuke inquired.

"The day after the second exam finishes," Fugaku answered. "It will give time for many of the teams who failed the exam to depart, reducing the risk of causing issues with any of the other nations. But it should still be early enough that it won't seem too suspicious if none of our own teams have left. I must repeat that you are not to speak of this to anyone."

"What are you talking about over there?" their mother asked.

"Just giving the boys some advice on the exam," Fugaku replied.

And sending them off to war. Naruto was left to ponder the implications of that fact.

******

The trip to Suna had been peaceful and quiet. That suited Sasuke just fine, but Naruto looked to be about at his limit. Sasuke just hoped that he didn't cause too much trouble when he could no longer stand the boredom.

They were traveling through the forests of Konoha with the other two rookie Genin teams. Both of them had been nominated for this as well. However, Sasuke doubted they'd been informed of the other purpose of this trip.

Hinata was off with Team 8 deciding not to travel with her own team. And Anko, surprisingly, was nowhere to be seen. The other two Jounin sensei were present, but the group had to depart without Anko when she couldn't be found.

While lost in thought, he'd let Naruto slip out of his sight. He quickly located him meandering over to Team 10. Talking was one of the less worrisome things Naruto could have chosen to do to relieve his boredom. Still, Naruto was fully capable of causing a major incident with just his mouth, so he'd better follow him over and keep an eye on him.

"Hey, we met at graduation," Naruto called out to the spiky haired member of the team. "You're Shikamaru, right?"

"That's right, Nara Shikamaru," he responded warily. "Is there something I can help you with?"

All three of the Genin of Team 10 looked uncomfortable at being approached by Naruto. Maybe he could help Naruto out with that.

"No need to get so tense," Sasuke said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Despite his monstrous power he's pretty harmless overall. Just be thankful our sensei isn't here. She's the one you should really be nervous around."

The three of them looked somewhat dubious, but at least seemed to be considering his words. It probably helped that Naruto's dopey grin didn't exactly paint a portrait of malevolence.

"I think you were a little too soon to write off your sensei," Team 10's jounin leader, a large, bearded man named Asuma, replied cheerfully.

He hoped the man didn't mean what he thought he meant.

"Hey brats! Did you miss me?"

Yeah, there was Anko, having just caught up to them as if summoned by his words. She looked cheerful. Too cheerful for Sasuke's tastes. She had to be up to something.

"Where did you disappear to that you're only showing up now?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was getting these," she happily answered, pulling out a stack of papers. "I've taken out a life insurance policy on all nine of you rookies. They offered me a cheap rate for the first year if I'd commit to keeping the policy for ten. D-rank missions aren't exactly the source of a lot of casualties. But the jokes on them, they didn't expect for rookie Genin to be sent to the Chuunin Exams."

"Do you really think it's that likely one of us will die?" Chouji asked worriedly.

"One of you? I'm counting on three or four of you kicking the bucket."

"I don't know about your team," Ino chimed in, "but we're not only going to survive this stupid test, we're going to pass with flying colors."

"And I would appreciate it if you'd stop scaring my students," Asuma told her.

"Don't get so worked up about it," Anko said. "Here, I'll give you some free advice."

"Given your financial stake in our demise, I'd consider any advice from you a conflict of interests," Sasuke commented. Not that he would've trusted her even without this recent revelation.

Ignoring his reply, she gave her advice anyway. "When you first meet up with the other teams before the exam, you should make a big scene. Show everyone how tough you are so that they won't want to mess with you during the rest of the exams."

"Thanks, but I was already going to do that anyway," Naruto said proudly.

"Yeah, and just draw everyone's attention to us and make a few enemies," Sasuke pointed out. "You'll forgive me if I still find your advice suspect."

"I'll have you know I did that during my own exam and it worked great," Anko declared.

"She's telling the truth," Asuma informed them. "Of course her idea of making a scene was the brutal beating of another team for, what was it? Looking at you funny? I still have no idea how you didn't get disqualified for that."

"I'm beginning to understand your comment about your sensei," Shikamaru muttered to Sasuke.

"Well, we need to be going now," Anko announced to the group. "I need to discuss with my student the consequences of talking about me behind my back."

Sasuke glared at Shikamaru for giving him away, but the other boy just shrugged. Sasuke suspected more than talking would be involved. Sometimes he hated being right.

******

Sand, sand, and more sand. Naruto knew this was Sunagakure, but he was hoping for a little more variety than this. But at least there wasn't much sand inside this building. After arriving in the village, they'd turned in their registration forms and were entering the room they'd be waiting in until the exam started.

A large number of ninja had already gathered before they'd arrived. Finding nothing better to do, Naruto set himself to waiting, silently cursing Sasuke for making him promise not to cause a commotion.

But after an intolerably long period of doing nothing, a ninja approached them. His appearance was certainly odd with his face wrapped almost entirely in bandages. His headband had a musical note on it, but Naruto wasn't sure what village that represented.

"So what is it that makes you so special?" the foreign ninja asked him.

"Huh?" he responded intelligently.

"I'm somewhat of an astute observer," he bragged. "So I picked up on the fact that most of your fellow Konoha Genin seem to be afraid of you. Nervous looks and increased heart rate every time they look your way. I'm curious as to why that is."

"He's probably just related to someone much more terrifying than he is," a Genin from Suna said, having wandered over to join in the conversation himself. The boy was dressed in a black outfit which didn't seem very practical given where he lived.

Even odder, he seemed to have excessive amounts of makeup on his face and was carrying some large object wrapped in bandages on his back. It seemed he was somehow drawing the biggest freaks in the room to himself.

"What makes you think I'm not just really strong, myself?" Naruto huffed angrily.

"Your demeanor," he replied. "You don't act at all like the type who would inspire terror in other Genin."

"You mean he doesn't act like the other boy on your team?" the ninja mummy asked him smugly. The sharp look the Suna-nin gave him in response only proved his words had hit a mark.

"I noticed he gets the same sort of response as the boy here," he continued. "And he even gets them from his own teammates."

"Yeah, and he's the real deal," the makeup wearing boy declared. "Stay away from him if you want to live."

"Welcome to Sunagakure everyone," a voice called out, interrupting their conversation. "My name is Baki and the Chuunin Exams are about to begin."

It was about time. The speaker was a man with some sort of cloth covering his head and half his face.

"Your first exam will test your abilities at espionage," Baki announced. "The rules are simple. We've planted people throughout the village who will be discussing some secret plans. Your job is to gather as much information as you can without getting caught. The more information you gather the more points your team gets."

That sounded boring. Naruto was hoping for a fight. How were they supposed to even know who to spy on? Just start listening to random villagers?

"If you're caught," Baki continued, "you must peacefully return to this area to wait. None of the information you've gathered will count towards your team's points. If all three of you are caught, or you fail to gather enough intelligence within two hours, your team fails. No fighting is allowed during this test. The point is stealth. You may begin as soon as you leave this building."

"I think that it's best for us to split up," Sasuke suggested. "We wouldn't want to risk all getting caught for one mistake."

"Agreed," Hinata said. "I'd rather not work with you two regardless."

That was all well and good, but Naruto still didn't have a plan for how to go about this. He noticed that annoying Suna-nin with the makeup heading for the exit and decided that getting the information could wait. He had something else he wanted to do first and maybe he'd think of something while he did it.

Following quietly behind the older Genin, he saw him Henge into what appeared to be a normal Suna civilian. He continued to stealthily follow him for a short distance before activating his own Henge. He'd now disguised his appearance and changed his outfit so he looked like an additional Chuunin Examiner.

Walking confidently towards the disguised boy he called out to him. "Nice try, but not good enough. I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me."

"What? How could you have caught me?" he cried out, clearly shocked.

"I don't have time to explain to every brat I catch," Naruto answered. "Are you going to come quietly or do I have to disqualify your whole team?"

He immediately turned white and dropped his Henge. "That won't be necessary. I'm coming."

The two of them made their way back to the building they'd just left. "In you go," Naruto ordered, suppressing the urge to laugh at how well this had gone. That'd show him to call Uzumaki Naruto weak.

"That goes for you too," said a voice behind him.

Turning he saw a real examiner standing there.

"I know all the other examiners and you're not one of them," he declared. "So drop the Henge and get in. And you should be ashamed, falling for such a basic trick, Kankuro."

Reluctantly, Naruto did as he was told, only to have the other boy's eyes widen in shock.

"You!" he shouted angrily.

"Well, I guess we both got caught," Naruto answered sheepishly.

The other boy was obviously fuming, but didn't say anything else as the two of them went back inside. They were now the only two people in the room, everyone else having departed and them being the first to return. He hoped Sasuke and Hinata had better luck.

Someone else being caught soon would be nice as well. Glancing again at the other boy, he confirmed the Suna-nin was still glaring at him with a look that promised vengeance. This was going to be a long two hours.

******

"You didn't get any information before you were caught?" Sasuke asked.

"I already told you, I wasn't trying to gather intel," Naruto insisted, sticking to the story he'd tried to pass off on Sasuke. "I knew you guys could handle that and thought it would be better to eliminate some dangerous teams now."

"But the only person you claim to have caught in your trap, passed anyway thanks to his team," his brother replied. "Just face it. You've got plenty of power but you're going to have to let us handle the more subtle parts of the exam. You didn't exactly have a normal training regime."

"Just what are you trying to say?" Naruto asked.

"He's trying to say that under your own power you're useless," Hinata answered for Sasuke.

"That's not true!" Naruto yelled, drawing the eyes of some of the other Genin who had passed. "I can do just fine on my own."

"It's time to begin the second exam," Baki called out, quieting the room. "We'll be doing our own variation of a standard survival exam."

"Some of you veteran test failers … sorry test takers," he said with a smirk that made it clear that was no slip, "may have participated in something similar. To start off we need everyone to line up as a team over here."

The teams started doing just that. Looking around, Naruto decided to examine who else had passed the first exam. That Suna team did of course. Both the other rookie Genin teams from Konoha were still in, as well as a few other teams from Konoha. There was that mummy guy who'd talked to him earlier. His team was one of the first few to get in line.

It looked like cards were getting passed out to the teams and some information being written down a piece of paper. The line continued to move, the team in front of them being handed three cards each with the number 11 written on it. Then Hinata grabbed the three cards for their team, each having the number 12.

After receiving the cards, and having it recorded that their team had number 12, they went back to milling around in the crowd while the rest of the numbers were passed out.

When all teams had received theirs, Baki continued his explanation. "You're going to want to hold on to those carefully. Each one you still have on you will be worth three points. You need eleven points to pass this exam. Every card you get from another team is worth one point."

So they only needed to get two more, that didn't sound so hard.

"You may take the cards from other teams by any means you feel necessary," he announced to the room. Even killing your opponent will not be penalized. Each participant will be started at a different location, separated even from their own team. To pass, all three team members must arrive back at the village gate with eleven points worth of cards within three days."

This would be perfect. Naruto would have a chance to prove he could be useful without the Kyuubi. He'd do this part of the exam with just his own power and show them what a great ninja he was.

"Meet up a kilometer south of the gate if we don't run into each other sooner," Sasuke ordered, after hearing the explanation.

Hinata, meanwhile, handed each of them one of the numbered cards they'd been given. Naruto stuffed his into a shirt pocket for safe keeping.

A Suna-nin, whom Naruto didn't recognize, had at some point appeared next to Baki. Cutting his thumb with a kunai he went through some hand signs. With a puff of smoke, there were now a huge number of lizards next to the man. Or were they reptiles? Naruto wasn't sure what the difference was.

"Each of you needs to find one of the summons and follow it through the desert to your starting location," Baki instructed. "When it vanishes, that's the signal to begin."

The man's speech having concluded, people began to follow his directions and Naruto saw a number of his opponents running off after the summons. Making his own way towards the group of lizards, he approached one that caught his eye and stood by it.

"So ... um ... I guess I pick you," he said to it, unsure of how to start the thing.

Whether it understood him or not it began running at a surprising pace considering it was a little less than a foot long. It seemed to have picked a direction and was steadfastly moving in a very straight line. He noticed a number of other lizards heading out in just as unerring a manner but in different directions.

He briefly looked back and saw Sasuke and Hinata watching him depart. The two seemed content to observe things a little longer. Naruto cursed to himself when he realized that if it just went straight the whole time, they'd know in what general area he would be, but he was going to have no idea where they were.

He followed it until the town was well out of site and continued for another 30 minutes or so before it came to a stop. It did not, however, disappear. They had been told to start when it vanished so he guessed he was supposed to wait around for a little while.

Sitting down he began to survey the scenery. To the north there was sand. To the west there was sand. South of him was more sand. To the east the sand had formed a rather large dune. Being the most exciting feature around him, he set to watching it, as if waiting for it to perform some trick.

It sure was hot out in the desert. At least the sun was well past its zenith, probably only being a couple of hours from setting. Hopefully they'd finish this quickly, as he did not want to be here at noon the next day. After only a few minutes he was already tiring of just sitting there. The dune he'd been watching steadfastly refused to do anything interesting.

"So, am I allowed to start?" he asked his small guide.

It just stood there motionless giving no indication it had even heard him. Growing annoyed Naruto stood up and began to walk away from it. Turning towards him the lizard made some sort of loud hiss in his direction and seemed to be doing its best to look threatening.

"I'm stopping. I'm stopping," Naruto declared in an attempt to placate it. Sitting back down the annoying summon went back to staring at nothing. He wasn't sure how you could tell with a lizard, but he could have sworn the thing looked pleased with itself. Naruto fought back the urge to attack the thing. It would vanish if it took a hard enough blow right? Maybe that was just part of the test.

But controlling himself he went back to waiting, and less than five minutes later there was a puff of smoke leaving the area more comfortably mammalian. Turning back in the general direction he came from, Naruto set off at a fast pace. He couldn't waste any time if he wanted to show off to his teammates.

Twenty minutes later he was regretting his decision. His fast pace had only made him hotter, and no matter which way he went, he hadn't seen a sign of anyone else. Slowing to a stop, he took out a canteen and finished off the last of the water he'd brought with him. Looking at it regretfully, he wished he'd brought more, as that hadn't been nearly enough to quench his thirst.

"I found you at last," a voice called out from behind him.

Turning, he saw the makeup wearing Suna-nin he'd tricked in the first exam smirking at him from just a few feet behind him. Naruto was annoyed he'd been snuck up on, but consoled himself on the knowledge that it was the other boy's home.

"I felt I just had to track you down and give you payback for earlier," he announced arrogantly.

"Let's just see if you can," Naruto fired back and followed right behind his words with a punch.

The larger boy caught his fist easily and countered with a kick that sent Naruto plowing through the surface of the sand. Getting himself back up, he ran once again towards his opponent, focused on revenge for their last exchange. This time he tried to dive right into the other boy, but his attack was easily dodged.

Following through, the Suna Genin stunned Naruto with a powerful knee to his gut while he was still midflight, then slammed Naruto to the ground with an elbow in the square of his back. Reaching down before Naruto could collect himself, he slipped the card from his shirt pocket and examined it.

"You really should be more careful about letting people see where you put important objects like this," he mocked. "I expected you to be weak, but this was just pathetic. You must have a pretty frightening friend if people are so scared of a piece of trash like you. Well, see you."

Naruto made one last desperate leap at the boy to try and grab the card back but received a strong fist to his face for his troubles, spinning him around. When he turned back to make another attempt, the boy was gone. Despite a couple minutes of frantic searching, he was unable to find any trace of him.

Cursing, he picked a random direction and started off in search of another opponent. A few minutes later, as he peeked over one dune, he was pleased to see the back of another Genin. He recognized her as the teammate of that mummy that had talked to him before the exams started. This was perfect.

He remembered their team was one of the first to grab cards. It would be nice if he could remember exactly what order, but Naruto could still make this work. Pulling out some paper out that he'd brought with him, he used a kunai to carefully cut it out into a few card shapes. Then he finished his forgeries by writing a different number on each card.

Activating a Henge, he transformed into her bandage wrapped teammate and began to approach her, making sure to get her attention.

"Dosu!" she called out after spotting him.

She ran towards him but Naruto pulled out a kunai and stopped her when she got close.

"Wait," he ordered. "I can't be certain you're not just using a Henge. Show me your card as proof."

Coming to a stop she obediently pulled out a card with the number four on it.

"Are you satisfied?" she asked.

Naruto certainly was. That was one of the numbers he'd made a fake for. Putting away his kunai, he pulled the correct one out of his sleeve he showed it to her.

"Yes, I'm convinced. Now have you managed to ... oof."

The oof had been the result of Naruto getting his second knee to the gut of the day. It hadn't felt any better than the first time either. In a puff of smoke he lost his Henge before falling to the ground on his back. The long-haired girl was looking down at him angrily.

"How is that," she called out pointing to his forgery, "supposed to look like this?"

The real card she was holding had the number written in a very neat format, the number looking almost perfect. Examining his fake, Naruto supposed the edges of the card had been cut a little uneven. And the number perhaps wasn't quite up to the quality of the real one.

But she shouldn't have been so sure it was a fake, it was still clearly a nine. Er ... wait ... it was supposed to be a four wasn't it? Yes, as he'd been saying, it was still clearly a four.

Realizing he was again losing, he grit his teeth in frustration. He had to prove he could do this on his own. That meant he needed to get that card she was holding out no matter what. Grabbing a handful of sand, he hurled it in the girl's eyes. She shrieked and jumped back, but he used the distraction to dash up and grab the card out of her hand before turning and making a run for it.

To his consternation, rather than graciously accepting her defeat at his skillful hands, she'd decided to be a sore loser and pursue him. But after his first confrontation, Naruto was not about to risk losing the card he'd just won. And so the chase was on.

The angry girl behind him kept trying to make a pincushion out of him with her needles. She'd even hit him a couple of times, but nowhere that had slowed him down. Unfortunately, she did seem to be slowly gaining on him. If he didn't think of something else soon he would have no choice but to turn and fight.

Leaping over the top of a dune, he turned around. Preparing to launch some weapons of his own, he took aim but halted his throw when he saw the kunoichi's movements interrupted by an arm grabbing her leg just as she was cresting the top. Pulled down, her head was then met with a viscous kick that deprived her of her consciousness as she crumpled in a heap.

"Sasuke," Naruto called out, recognizing who it was that had just helped him.

"And just what were you doing?" Sasuke asked while rummaging through his defeated foe's belongings.

"I already took her card," Naruto told him proudly. "And I did it without using any of Kyuubi's chakra."

"Well, that explains why you were running," he replied. "But it doesn't explain why you were doing that in the first place."

"To prove that I could."

"She doesn't seem to have any other cards on her," Sasuke announced, having concluded his search. "But despite this crazy idea you somehow got in your head, you did manage to get another card. And I liberated one myself, so as long as Hinata hasn't lost her card we'll have enough points."

"Um ... about that ..." Naruto began, but trailed off trying to think of a way to soften the blow.

"You lost your own card?" Sasuke groaned, knowing Naruto well enough to see where that was going. "And all for the sake of your stupid pride? You do realize we have to get three more cards to make up for that, right?"

"You don't have to worry about that," Hinata said coming up from the other side of the dune.

"Where did you come from?" Naruto asked.

"I've been following you secretly since before your encounter with the Suna-nin," she answered.

"Then why didn't you help me when I lost my card?" Naruto demanded to know. "Hoping he would finish me off?"

"That would have been nice," she admitted. "But I already told you not to worry about the card. I never gave you the real one to begin with. I still have it right here."

"Let me guess," Sasuke said irritably, "you were afraid that he would use the card as part of a secret plot that would enslave all the other contestants to his will."

Naruto felt like joining his brother in reproaching Hinata, but then came to a realization.

"Since I didn't actually lose my card that means I did just as well as you," he bragged to Sasuke.

"Whatever you say," Sasuke replied in what he was sure was masked jealously despite the dismissive tone, "Right now we need to try to find a way to be sure the cards we took from other teams aren't fake as well."

"I've already checked," Hinata told him. "The real ones have been imbued with a small amount of chakra, visible to my Byakugan, that must be used for identification. Both of your captured cards are legitimate."

"Great!" Naruto shouted out. "Let's hurry back. Maybe we can be the first team to finish."

So they did return to the village, managing to avoid any other confrontations along the way. They were not the first team to arrive, being beaten by the Suna team. Naruto ground his teeth at seeing that particular team there.

Only four additional teams arrived before the end of the exam. Three of them were from Konoha, to Naruto's pride. The other two rookie teams and an older one that seemed to have another Hyuuga on it.

He didn't know who he was, or who his teammates were. One of them was a weird looking boy in green with the thickest eyebrows he'd ever seen. The final was a brown-haired girl with said hair done up in buns. He guessed the team had graduated only a year before them.

The final team was the Oto team. He'd discovered the name of their village from Sasuke. They'd somehow managed to recover their fallen teammate and pass. The once again conscious girl didn't look any happier to see them than Naruto had been to see the Suna team.

But now they had to do an extra prelim exam. It seemed 18 people were too many to have in the final portion. But one on one fights sounded good to Naruto. He just wondered who he'd end up fighting.

******

Kiba was happy. He got to be in the very first fight and had a chance to show off by taking on Sasuke. Sure the boy had better grades than him, but that was because of the written exams, which didn't mean much in a real fight.

And, well, so he 'occasionally' lost to Sasuke in spars too. And by 'occasionally' maybe he meant every time they'd ever fought. But he had a couple of really powerful new moves so he was confident this time would be different.

Together with Akamaru, he entered the arena. There were very few spectators other than the participants and their instructors. However, the Kazekage himself had decided to watch this portion of the exam.

Seeing Sasuke enter, the other boy's eyes were already in the form of his clan's famous Sharingan. That just meant ... well ... actually he couldn't remember what that meant. But it didn't matter. He'd just hit him hard and not give him a chance to use his bloodline.

"Tsuuga!" he yelled out as soon as the referee started the match. Going into the move's characteristic spin he hurtled at high speed towards the young Uchiha across from him. The boy attempted to dodge but was clipped lightly as he did. Quickly turning around he hit him square in the back before he could even recover.

Kiba continued to press his assault. Sasuke dodged some attacks, but more and more of them hit as the damage started to add up. Meanwhile, Akamaru was trying to tell him something, but whatever it was it could wait until after he finished this.

Stopping his spin, he grabbed his now badly injured opponent and began working on removing the last traces of his consciousness via the old-fashioned fist to the face method.

He was now able to make out that Akamaru was trying to tell him to stop. Apparently his partner was starting to feel sorry for Sasuke. But when he didn't listen, Akamaru ran up to him and, to his great surprise, bit him in the leg.

"What was that for?" he yelled out angrily before realizing that the Sasuke he was holding had vanished. Sasuke now seemed to be standing exactly where he'd started the match and didn't seem to have a single scratch on him. Genjutsu! When had he managed to catch him in that?

"How nice of you to tire yourself out for me," Sasuke said mockingly. "I'm afraid it probably looked a little silly to the audience, however."

Looking at them he did see a number of them were laughing at him. Growing all the more angry he decided Sasuke was really going to pay for that. It was time to go all out. Taking a pill, he tossed another one to Akamaru, who began to transform until he was an exact replica of Kiba.

Feeling a rush of energy from the soldier pill he'd just eaten taken, he decided to renew his assault.

"Gatsuuga!" he shouted as both he and Akamaru started spinning into a double version of his previous attack. But Sasuke dodged both of their initial attacks.

"That won't work," he announced. "You already gave me plenty of time to learn your movements."

Not willing to let the other boy fluster him, he turned around for another pass. But it was dodged just as easily as the first. And as he turned around for a third try he found his ball of flame heading on a fast intercept course along his planned route. He wasn't able to avoid it in time and found himself engulfed in flames. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Akamaru hit by a similar attack.

Rolling around he managed to put out the flames. Protecting himself from being consumed by that attack had taken a lot of his chakra. Even with the soldier pill he had taken, he was finding himself once again on the brink of exhaustion. What was worse, Akamaru had reverted to his dog form upon being hit with the flames and was now lying on the ground unconscious.

"Give up," Sasuke ordered him. "You can't win."

"I'd rather die!" Kiba yelled back stubbornly.

"Perhaps," Sasuke conceded.

Then in a burst of speed he was next to Akamaru, lifting the injured dog up by the scruff of the neck and holding a kunai to it.

"But would you rather he die?" Sasuke asked menacingly.

That ... that lowlife scum! It went against every fiber of his being, but he wouldn't put it past Sasuke to actually follow through on the threat.

"I give up," he called out.

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," the referee announced.

******

Naruto was glad to see his brother win, but decided he was going to win his own match even more impressively. He figured he'd proven himself enough without the Kyuubi in the last match and wouldn't need to hold back here. So he was glad to see his own name come up for the second match. His opponent was supposed to be someone named Kankuro.

He became all the more pleased with the results when he saw the other person entering the arena with him. He was none other than the Suna-nin that had stolen his card and escaped before he could get it back in the previous exam.

This would be the perfect chance for revenge. The start of the match was called but neither of them made a move at first.

"I'm glad your team managed to pull you through this far," Kankuro told him. "It allowed me to have the good fortune of fighting someone as easy as you."

"You remember saying how I must have a very dangerous friend?" Naruto asked. "How would you like to meet him?"

"Oh, is he in the audience?" Kankuro asked curiously. "Even if he is, I think you'll find I'm not as easily scared as your friends from Konoha."

"No, he's right here," Naruto replied.

Accessing the Kyuubi's chakra he quickly progressed through the changes, being able to do so much faster than he used to after all these years of training. It was only moments before he had a full two tails behind him. Not even giving Kankuro time to fully consider this new development, he charged forward and sent a giant claw of demonic chakra at his opponent.

He caught him straight on and sent him hurtling into the wall. The large object strapped to his back had fallen off to the side at some point during his flight. But to Naruto's surprise, the wrapping around the object burst open to reveal Kankuro, who threw a volley of shuriken at him immediately upon revealing himself.

So what had he just hit? Looking at where his claw had impacted the wall he saw broken pieces of wood and metal where the apparent doll had been crushed. That explained that, but now to deal with the real one.

He sent a second claw from his left hand, knocking aside the shuriken and pinning the boy to the wall in the same manner his doll had been. Minus the breaking into pieces part.

"I give up!" Kankuro cried out.

Naruto immediately released him where he fell to the floor before getting to his feet shakily. Sensing something, he turned to see his opponent's other male teammate floating to the ground on a cloud of sand. He was quite certain of what it was made of, having had more experience with sand than he would have ever wanted the last few days. He wondered if the boy was upset about his teammate's loss.

"I can sense something from you now," the boy called out.

"Gaara you need to get out of the ring," Baki told the boy politely. "It's not your turn to fight."

Ignoring him Gaara continued to stare at Naruto getting a very creepy grin on his face. "Mother says I should kill you."

So this was Gaara huh? The boy he was supposed to take out when their invasion started. It looked like their fight might come earlier than planned as the sand around the boy was beginning to move towards him. The sand was only a few feet from him when it was batted away. In its place was the Kazekage.

"You've embarrassed me enough today, Gaara," he yelled out. "You're disqualified for your refusal to leave the ring. If you resist any further I'll be forced to take harsher action. Now get him out of here Baki."

"Yes sir," he replied. The man didn't sound at all happy with his assignment, but the Kazekage must have gotten through to the other boy somehow, for he didn't give any further resistance as he was lead outside.

Kankuro had already scrambled outside of the arena and met up with his final teammate.

"I wish he'd let them fight," Kankuro said quietly. But not quietly enough to avoid detection by Naruto's enhanced hearing.

"Maybe those two monsters would have finished each other off and made the world a less frightening place," he added.

******

Having watched both her teammates win their matches, Hinata finally worked up the nerves to approach her cousin's team.

"Still fighting your righteous campaign to bring down the Uchiha Clan?" Neji asked her in a tone of voice that made clear he was no friendlier to her than the last time they had talked.

"Well, yes ..." she started before trailing off, unable to think of what to say. This was not going as she hoped it would.

"I find it odd that you hate the Uchiha Clan so much," he told her bitterly. "They do nothing the main family hasn't been doing to the branch family for decades. They haven't even used their power to kill those under their control, so in a sense they're not even as bad."

Why couldn't Neji just realize she hated the seals put on the branch family too? Just because she was in the main family didn't mean she agreed with their actions.

"That's enough of that," her cousin's sensei, Gai, ordered. "It's not at all youthful to speak to your cousin like that."

"Yes!" a voice shouted from next to them. "It's finally my turn!"

Sure enough, Lee's name was now up on the board. The only problem was that he was supposed to fight Gaara.

"Lee, your opponent has already been disqualified," their final teammate told him.

"Then they'll just have to give me someone else to fight," he declared confidently.

"Since Gaara has been disqualified, Rock Lee will advance through the preliminaries," the referee announced.

"Nooo!" shouted Lee in protest, falling to his knees in shock. "Now I won't have a chance to show off the benefits of all my hard work!"

While Gai was attempting to comfort Lee, the board had stopped on two new names. Hyuuga Neji versus Hyuuga Hinata. That was about the last matchup Hinata would have wanted. Neji, however, must be thrilled.

Entering the arena in silence, the two of them locked eyes and waited for the signal to start. When it arrived, both activated their Byakugan and gave the audience a rare public viewing of two Gentle Fist practitioners competing.

Their skill levels were pretty evenly matched. Neither had been able to land a blow after over a minute of exchanges. However, Neji's longer reach was causing issues for her, and, if anything, he seemed to be a little faster than her. She reluctantly came to the conclusion that if this went on, she would almost certainly be the first to slip up.

With all her improvement lately, she'd hoped she'd surpassed Neji, but he hadn't exactly been standing still either. She was much closer, but in pure physical ability he was still better. But there were advantages to being in the main house. Certain training was made available that wasn't given to branch members.

Getting some space, she got into the stance necessary for her next move. But she was startled to see Neji getting into the same stance. True this move wasn't forbidden to the branch family, but who would he have found who would teach it to him?

"Hakke Rokujuuyon Shou," Neji and Hinata called out at the same time.

The move started off slow, and neither of their first sets of two strikes managed to hit. Nor did their sets of four strikes. However, on the set of eight, Neji managed to get one hit in sealing a chakra point. That was bad, so Hinata redoubled her efforts and put everything into making sure she landed on in the next set. And she succeeded in closing one of his chakra points. However, she'd neglected defense in her assault and took three more hits herself.

The loss of chakra to certain parts of her body was starting to have an effect as well and on the set of thirty-two strikes she has hit eleven more times without landing a single hit of her own. By the final set of sixty-four, she'd completely fallen out of her assault and took almost all sixty-four of the strikes, leaving her more or less cut off from her chakra.

It looked like she wasn't going to make Chuunin in this exam. She had no chance of winning if she continued from here. Raising her hand she started to announce her concession. Only to be hit in the jaw by a quick blow from Neji, snapping it shut and preventing her from saying anything.

It seemed he had no intention of letting this end early. That last blow hadn't done much damage, as he'd been in too much of a hurry to make use of the gentle fist. But the follow up blow aiming right for her chest would certainly be much more dangerous. Bracing herself, she just hoped she lived through this.

But then a wave a killer intent washed over the arena and Neji stumbled before freezing in place. It was coming from Naruto, who was one again drawing on the Kyuubi's demonic chakra. Perhaps because she had experienced it before, or perhaps because it wasn't directed at her, she recovered before Neji and was able to surrender.

This snapped Neji out of his stupor and he actually moved as if to attack her again despite the match ending. But Gai was already in the ring restraining his student. Denied a physical outlet for his anger he took to screaming instead as he was lead from the arena.

"Why did you stop me?" he shouted at Naruto, who had returned to his normal state upon seeing Neji subdued. "She hates you! I would have finished her off and left you one less enemy! Why did you have to interfere?"

Frustrated that she'd been saved by Naruto, she starting making her way out of, not just the ring, but the building itself. Her frustration only grew when Naruto came running up behind her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. He actually sounded concerned too. He was a better actor than she would have given him credit for. But why had he done it. It didn't make any sense.

"Why?" she asked.

"Huh?" he replied, not seeming to get what she was asking.

"Why did you save me?" she clarified. "Neji was right. It doesn't make any sense. You could have just let him finish me and it would have just been one Hyuuga killing another. Nothing to reflect badly on the Uchiha Clan. I can't figure out what it is you could hope to gain from a big act like this."

"I saved you for two reasons," Naruto replied. "First, because I couldn't stand what Neji was doing by not letting you give up. Second, you're my teammate and, like it or not, you're supposed to watch out for your team."

He did it for that? Because he didn't like how Neji was acting? Someone who helped the Uchiha Clan with all they'd done without giving it a second thought? She was supposed to believe that?

"I don't know what I have to do to convince you I'm not a monster," he said, picking up on her skepticism. Then he looked around as if to make sure no one was in the area.

"Well here's something I'm going to tell you despite being ordered not to," he whispered, barely audible even to her. "And I'm going to tell you just because you're my teammate. There's going to be a war here. Tomorrow, Konoha will attack Suna."

Hinata stood stunned. A war? Could he be lying? No, that wouldn't make any sense. She'd find out too soon if he were lying for there to be any value in that deception. But why was he telling her? Nothing he did made any sense anymore.

Unless he really had just been used by Fugaku. She certainly wouldn't put it past the current Hokage. And if she was honest, Naruto never really was the type to catch on to a deception very easily. This could still be some sort of a trick, but if there was a war tomorrow, it would be the perfect time to find out what Naruto's true loyalties.

Not even bothering to respond to his info, she quickly departed, and was glad to see Naruto didn't follow her this time. She had to get ready for tomorrow. One way or the other the obstacle that was Uzumaki Naruto would be removed. Either she'd prove him an ally rather than an enemy, or she'd use the chaos of the war as a cover to eliminate him.

******

Something was happening soon and it was going to be big. Shikamaru was sure of that. They'd been ordered a little too forcefully to stay in their rooms that night. Also, it could make sense to keep teams that had at least one member in the finals here for the next month, rather than break up the teams for the duration. But he'd done a little checking and none of the Genin teams staying in other inns were leaving today either. Even the teams whose members had all failed.

But while they could hope Suna didn't notice in the confusion of so many teams leaving, it wouldn't take them long to figure out something odd was happening. So whatever was going to happen would be tonight or tomorrow.

It had to be some big mission, or, as he feared was more likely, an invasion of Suna. This was too troublesome. Shikamaru was tempted to sneak out tonight and head back to Konoha on his own. But that would mean abandoning his friends and classmates and he wasn't quite willing to do that.

He doubted he could successfully escape unnoticed if he brought them along even in the unlikely event they all cooperated. It was going to be a huge pain, but it looked like he had some work to do tonight. At the very least he wasn't going to go into this unprepared.

******

**AN**

It's a chapter full of personal records. The longest break between chapters, for which I apologize, and the longest chapter length, for which I don't. In other good news, I finally got over some writer's block and was able to plan out an ending to this story. It's still a long way off, but there's now very little chance this won't be finished.

About the only thing I can think of with a real chance of getting in the way now is if the IRS discovers I don't really have 10 dependents and decide to be unreasonable about it. I'm sure they'll understand how it's just a misunderstanding.

You know how it is. Do you count yourself as a dependent or not? So you go back and forth between a 0 and a 1 and then oops, you've written both next to each other so it looks like a 10 without noticing. It's the sort of simple mistake anyone could make five years in a row, right? I'm sure they'll understand that.

I'd love to hear your opinions on this Suna invasion arc. Interesting subplot or annoying delay to the main story? Please review and let me know that or anything you feel like telling me.


	6. Chapter 6

"Get up," a voice ordered.

Shikamaru wished they'd started this a little later in the day. He'd hardly gotten any sleep at all after his preparations the night before. At least they'd waited until morning. Asuma was now standing over him expectantly as he dragged himself out of bed.

"Hurry downstairs," he commanded. "I have something important to discuss with all of you."

"The war you mean?" Shikamaru asked.

His sensei appeared startled at his declaration but quickly recomposed himself.

"I guess I shouldn't be too surprised you already know," he said almost proudly. "But I still need you down there, so get moving."

Shikamaru shuffled out of the room after the already departed Asuma, and made his way down the stairs at a sedated pace that probably wasn't terribly appropriate to the seriousness of the situation.

He saw that most of the rest of the rookie Genin were present, only Naruto and Hinata being absent. But Hinata wasn't much of a surprise seeing as he'd noted her room was empty last night.

The older Genin teams were staying in different lodging, there not having been any one inn with enough room for everyone. They were probably getting meetings just like this. Asuma, being the only one ranked higher than Genin in the room, took charge of the situation.

"I'll get right to the point," Asuma said seriously. "As of this moment, we are at war with Suna."

Judging by the numerous outbursts, this came as a surprise to most of the other six Genin in the room. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke seemed to have been forewarned. He couldn't read Shino at all, but the other four were not taking this calmly in the least.

"I need you all to listen to my orders very carefully," Asuma told them sternly. "Watching seven green Genin in the middle of a war zone is going to hard enough if you don't follow my directions quickly and to the letter. To be honest Anko was supposed to be helping me take care of you, but I have no idea where she is."

"She's not very big on following orders," Sasuke supplied helpfully, not seeming to care much about his sensei's honor. "She probably decided that assignment would be too boring."

"It seems your teammate has been picking up her bad habits as well," Asuma said, trying to put a touch of humor in his tone. But his annoyance was clear to Shikamaru after the time he'd spent on his team.

"Does anyone know where Hinata is?" he asked.

"I don't see Naruto here either," Sakura pointed out.

"He has his own mission," Asuma stated with a finality that said clearly there was going to be no further discussion on that.

"Let Chouji, Ino, and myself remain here while you follow your orders with the others," Shikamaru suggested "It should be easier for you to take care of four Genin than seven."

"I can't do that," Asuma replied. "That would leave you three on your own. I'm not sacrificing you for the sake of the other four."

"It wouldn't be a sacrifice," Shikamaru insisted. "You already know I figured out something like this was happening. So I spent most of last night fortifying this place. You know we work well together, if we hole up in here we should be pretty safe."

"Unless they just decide to blow up the whole inn," Asuma countered.

"This is their city," Shikamaru argued, "they'll avoid unnecessary damage. And there should be enough going on that they'll have larger concerns than a few enemy ninja hiding in an inn."

"Do you really think this is the safest way?" Asuma asked him, while looking him straight in the eyes.

"I do," he said simply.

"Very well," Asuma replied, reluctantly giving in. "My team, stay here with Shikamaru, everyone else follow me."

The room emptied of most of its occupants, leaving only his two teammates with him.

"What was that all about?" Ino yelled at him accusingly. "You expect me to believe I'm going to be safer here with you than I would be with Asuma?"

"If Shikamaru says we'll be safe here, then we'll be safe here," Chouji replied in his defense.

"I said we'd be safer here," Shikamaru corrected him. "There's nowhere in this city we'd be completely safe today. Now follow me upstairs."

When they'd all reached the top he directed his teammates to open all the doors to the various rooms while he moved to a wall where he'd hung a sheet the night before. Removing it showed that the wall was plastered in mirrors. They were set at various angles and some were oddly curved or shaped.

It looked almost like some attempt to create a giant compound eye. And the purpose was somewhat similar. Combined with the mirrors he'd set up around the building, it gave him at least a basic view of all the entrances to the building in a single glance.

"Wow!" Chouji called out from behind him. "I noticed there were some mirrors I didn't remember, but I never imagined they were for something like this."

"Wait a minute," Ino said looking over the mirrors closely before running into one of the rooms to check something.

She ran back out, obviously angry, and started shouting at Shikamaru accusingly, "There are mirrors in my room too! You snuck into my bedroom while I was sleeping!"

"Now' isn't the time, Ino," he told her.

Thankfully, she decided to let it go at that, but he knew this wasn't the last he'd hear on the subject.

Settling down to wait, a number of minutes passed with nothing happening, and he almost began to hope maybe they'd overlook this building completely. But his luck wasn't that good. He saw a couple of Suna Chuunin cautiously coming in through the main entrance.

Not wasting any time, he stretched his shadow out through a small hole he'd cut in the bottom of the wall that could easily pass for a mouse hole. There it traveled through the walls and came out of a similar hole right next to the unsuspecting Chuunin, connecting to both their shadows and trapping them.

Lifting his hand, he forced the older ninja to mimic his motion. But unfortunately for them, above their head was trip wire Shikamaru had set up. Triggering it, a dozen kunai flew towards the two men, who began struggling to no avail. He released them at the last moment, but not having enough time to dodge, both were made into human pincushions and fell to the ground dead.

Well, that was two down and a whole village left. Shikamaru just hoped the rest of them found other things to do.

******

Sasuke was impressed. Asuma was a much more skilled Jounin than he would have given him credit for. Whether multiple Chuunin, or the one Suna Jounin they'd come across so far, he'd quickly dispatched his foes with little apparent effort.

Shino impressed him as well. He always knew the boy was one of the best in their class, but either he'd improved a lot since graduation, or he'd been holding back. He hated to admit it, but if the two were to fight, he couldn't say with confidence he would be the winner.

Even Sakura impressed him. Her sensei was known to be exceptionally skilled at Genjutsu, and Sakura seemed to have benefited immensely from her tutelage. Sasuke could still outdo her with the help of his Sharingan in that field, but if he weren't using it, he doubted he could match her illusions.

But what impressed him the most was how well the three other Genin worked together as a team. Covering for each other so naturally it almost looked like they were parts in a larger machine. Asuma was enough for the smaller encounters, but when the fighting really got intense, they were far more effective than he'd ever expect from a rookie Genin team.

He wondered if that was normal for teams that weren't dysfunctional like his.

He wasn't so distracted by his thoughts as to lose awareness of his surroundings. So when a Suna-nin attempted to shove a kunai into his neck a moment later, he leaned back swiftly to avoid it. Springing back, Sasuke plowed his fingers into his opponent's throat, crushing his windpipe.

The four Genin had been somewhat reluctant to kill their opponents when they'd first set out. But it soon became clear that, if they wanted to survive this, there was no room for mercy. They had to harden their emotions and become tools as they'd been taught. They could deal with the psychological ramifications when they were safe at home.

For now, they would continue moving through the chaotic battles occurring all around the village, and focus on staying alive.

******

Naruto continued his path of destruction through the village in his two tailed form. It made for a good compromise of being his most powerful form where he didn't really have to worry about the Kyuubi influencing his decisions.

He'd taken out a number of enemy ninja who had tried to get in his way, but he still had no idea how to find Gaara and complete his mission. During the preliminaries for the third exam, Gaara had seemed to sense something about him when he'd used the Kyuubi's power. Maybe he could do the same and sense Gaara.

Coming to a stop he tried to see if he could feel anything odd pulling him in a certain direction.

"I've found you!"

Or maybe Gaara could still sense him and would come right to him. Looking at his opponent he noticed the boy's two teammates hanging out well behind him seeming to be trying their best not to get involved. He was amused to see that Kankuro was no longer talking big around him.

Wanting to get this over with, Naruto charged at Gaara.

******

Hinata watched the fight between Naruto and Gaara with interest. Naruto appeared to be dominating the fight, getting in a number of blows even through the boy's sand shield while taking none himself. On the other hand, these blows only seemed to anger the other boy rather than injure him.

She'd worked hard last night on a trap she could lead Naruto into. It should finish him off even through his healing if she deemed it necessary. Unfortunately, the half of her plan that called for her to determine if it was didn't seem to be working very well. She'd just assumed he'd show his true colors during a war but obviously hadn't thought it through well enough.

He was fighting against Suna, but so were any number of other Konoha ninja they'd passed. Including ones she knew hated Uchiha rule as much as she did. What had she expected? That he would start killing any Uchiha he saw in the middle of the war? She wished she was better at planning than this. A proper ninja wouldn't leave such obvious holes in their strategies. She stopped herself before she fell back into her old trap of self doubt.

She had to do her best with what she had. So what would she do if she couldn't determine where he stood? Getting him to join her side would be the best case scenario, but would she ever get as good a chance to kill him without suspicion falling on her?

For now, she'd continue watching and see what happened. She was astonished that the other boy was lasting this long against Naruto when he was like this. She remembered how badly she'd done in their spar, even working with Sasuke against him. But Gaara did look to be getting more and more mentally unstable as the fight progressed.

The strain on his psyche seemed to have finally got the best of the redheaded boy, as he let out a primal scream. But after that, sand started to form into a massive arm around the boy. From there it quickly spread to the rest of his body. As it did, the fight began to look much more even, with Gaara moving quicker, blocking blows, and even getting in a couple of his own.

Just who was this boy? Puzzling it over in her head, the pieces snapped together and an idea of what could be going on formed in her head. Was he another jinchuuriki? Who else would be able to match Naruto at his age? He even seemed to be transforming in a similar manner to what Naruto did when drawing on the Kyuubi's power.

Beyond that, it seemed that this boy was Naruto's goal. The blond boy had definitely been searching for something all this time. And whenever someone interrupted him, he became very annoyed, just trying to get them out of the way and continue on with his search as quickly as possible. That sort of one track mind was typical of Naruto.

But despite this being the longest fight yet, Naruto didn't look at all annoyed by that fact or distracted in any way. He was completely focuses on his opponent. It made sense that he would have been ordered to take out the enemy jinchuuriki.

When the sand had almost completely formed a new body around Gaara, Naruto finally decided he'd had enough. Feeling his already insanely high chakra levels spike up dramatically, Hinata saw a third tail forming behind him. She'd never seen him do this before. And with the power now dripping off of him, she began to have doubts that even her carefully designed trap would be any use. She would have to get him when he wasn't accessing the Kyuubi's power.

Despite Gaara's transformation, when Naruto attacked again, the fight was more one-sided than ever. Blow after blow reigned down on Gaara who seemed helpless to do anything. What's more, whenever the red chakra that surrounded Naruto's body touched the sand, it started to fall away. It seemed contact with Kyuubi's chakra at that intensity was interfering with Gaara's ability to control it.

Soon the extra sand surrounding Gaara's body had almost completely fallen away, leaving his appearance much the same as it had been prior to his transformation. The next couple of blows made his skin appear to crack and start falling away. So that explained his durability from earlier. He had an extra layer of sand around his body acting as a suit of armor.

But even that fell away and Naruto's next blow to the boy's chest burnt through his skin, left a nasty burn on his body, and hurled him into a wall. Standing unsteadily, Gaara coughed up some blood, before his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell unconscious.

Naruto stood over the boy and seemed to be considering something before turning to where the boy's teammates were peeking around the corner of a building.

"Take him, and get him out of here quickly," he ordered them. "Hide him somewhere. There are a lot of people out there who won't think twice about killing him if they find him."

They hesitated, probably wondering if this were some sort of trick. But whether out of concern for her teammate or fear of going against Naruto's wishes, the kunoichi of the team hurried over and grabbed the unconscious jinchuuriki before departing quickly with her teammates.

Hinata couldn't believe that had been part of his orders. Fugaku wouldn't want an enemy as powerful as him left alive. So at that moment, Hinata made her decision. She could never be 100% certain, but nothing Naruto had done since they'd been put on a team together had given her any reason to doubt him. So she was going to give him a chance and believe him until he broke that trust. Otherwise, was it any different from the way Neji treated her?

Coming out of hiding, she approached Naruto, who saw her coming and released the demonic chakra surrounding him, returning to normal.

"Hey Hinata," he called out. "What are you doing here?"

"I want you to help me bring down the Uchiha Clan."

"Huh?" he replied, confused at the suddenness of her statement.

"I think I finally believe that you haven't just been out to deceive me," she told him. "So I thought you might like to help stop the crimes of the Uchiha."

"I already promised you I'd do what I can to free the hostages," he told her. "I'll see what I can do as soon as we get back to Konoha. After that I'll listen to what you have planned. You wouldn't want to do anything while they still had hostages anyway would you?"

"Still," Hinata continued, "if you would commit to our cause, it would go a long way towards convincing other clans to ..."

Her words were interrupted by a large explosion. Naruto immediately summoned the Kyuubi's chakra, and Hinata activated her Byakugan. There was a large plume of flame coming out from one of the higher levels of the city's central tower. It wasn't their immediate concern, but both of them realized this wasn't the place to have this discussion.

There was still a war to fight.

******

Shikamaru had finally managed to get his breathing under control again. The Suna forces had been much more persistent about investigating this inn than he'd been counting on. But he supposed that when no one sent in here came back out it would start to appear suspicious. There was now an impressive collection of corpses scattered throughout the building.

They'd run out of traps by some of the more popular entrances, but Ino and Chouji had been able to fill in for them and perform the finishing blows. The real problems had started when Shikamaru had become too exhausted to make use of his shadow.

But the three of them had pulled through and somehow defeated the few that had shown up after that happened. And then it had gone quiet. He'd had enough rest that he could probably go back to trapping the next set if they had any further intruders.

Maybe the peace they'd had lately indicated the fighting was over?

The quiet was broken at that moment by a loud explosion from somewhere in the distance.

Yeah, or maybe it was the calm before the storm.

******

It had been a while since Sasuke's group had run into any enemies. They continued to patrol around the area, and saw numerous other Konoha ninja doing the same. But it looked like the war was going well, as there didn't seem to be much opposition left.

Their team had fared pretty well. Kiba had an arm broken during the fighting, but Sakura had set it and created a fairly serviceable splint for it. It was clear that keeping up with them was difficult for the boy after that, but to his credit, he managed without complaint.

The rest of the injuries had been limited to minor cuts and bruises. Considering they were invading Sunogakure, he couldn't complain if this was the limit of their injuries.

They saw someone approaching from in front of them and readied themselves for another fight. But while this was someone he didn't want to see, it quickly became clear this was no enemy.

The figure turned out to be Anko, whose clothes were now drenched in blood. He doubted much, if any of it was hers, judging from the huge grin on her face.

"That was the most fun I've had in ages," she declared when she'd reached the group.

Looking them over, she acted oblivious to glares being directed at her from the five of them.

"Hey, I only count four brats. Does that mean the other four died?" she asked hopefully.

Sasuke wondered if her abandoning them had been at all motivated by those stupid insurance policies. He wouldn't put it past her.

"Not at all, since you didn't feel like sticking around, we were forced to make other arrangements," Asuma responded. "None of them were actually with us."

"But they could still be dead, right?" she fired back, not willing to let go of her morbid optimism.

Asuma scowled at her but said nothing. He could certainly understand the man's anger as it was his team who he'd been forced to leave behind. His students who might actually be dead as she suggested.

"Well, I'm going to head off towards where that big explosion came from earlier," Anko told them when no one said anything further. "It's getting pretty boring around here."

Before she could depart, a voice began resonating through the entire village by means of some type of jutsu.

"Attention everyone. The Kazekage has been killed and most of our forces decimated. For this reason, the council has regrettably surrendered to the Konoha forces. Any surviving shinobi should cease all hostilities immediately and report to the council chambers. That is all."

"Looks like my fun is over," Anko announced morosely.

******

"This went better then we'd expected," Danzo said, the normally dour man actually looking cheerful for once. "The reports aren't final, but casualties were lighter than we'd anticipated."

"Suna was not only weak, but more foolish than we'd anticipated," he droned on, not seeming to care that the only other occupants of the room, Fugaku and one of Danzo's own men already knew all of this. He really played the role of the villain to the hilt, seeming to have the pathological need to gloat over the success of his plan.

"They never caught on to our plans and many of their best ninja were out on missions during our invasion."

"Why don't we just finish everyone off and raze the city?" Danzo's lackey asked.

Fugaku groaned inwardly, wondering if Danzo had planted that question.

"Because then all the Suna ninja who were absent from village would simply disperse," Danzo explained. "Some would go rogue, some would join other villages, but all of them would hate Konoha, taking any opportunity they could to get revenge."

"By leaving them their city, they'll just cower in here hoping they can rebuild before someone decides to finish them off," Danzo continued. "They're even paying us reparations so that we don't do it ourselves. And I can assure you, there will be other villages that will consider having their own shot at Suna now that we've weakened them."

"But most importantly," Danzo announced, hopefully drawing to a close, "we've shown the rest of the world the might of Konoha. With how easily we won, there's little chance of another village deciding to test themselves against us anytime soon."

At that moment a young Chuunin burst into the room.

"Hogake-sama," he addressed Fugaku respectfully, "you're needed outside."

Thankful for the interruption, he followed the man out of the room, making a note to give him first choice of the best missions for a while.

******

They'd started their journey back the very same day. Naruto figured they were eager to get more forces back in Konoha and taking on missions again. It had been a very odd trip back due to Hinata's sudden transformation. Rather then the distrust and accusations he was used to facing, she was suddenly doing her best to convince him to commit to opposing Fugaku's rule.

He'd resisted promising anything beyond considering it, but she was nothing if not persistent. She was smart enough not to ask him whenever Sasuke could overhear, but he certainly must have picked up on the fact that she was being friendlier to him than she usually was.

This was confirmed when they arrived back and Konoha. Sasuke approached him after they'd split up from the rest of their team and were headed home.

"I see you've been getting along with Hinata pretty well lately," he said in a manner that sounded more like an accusation than a statement.

"It's like I said," Naruto responded defensively, "just give her a chance, let her see you're a good person, and she'll come around."

"About the only way I could see her coming around to one of us was if we started going along with her crazy conspiracy theories," he replied bitterly.

"Don't tell me you actually started to buy into some of her crackpot stories?" Sasuke joked lightly.

But Naruto was unsure how to respond to that and Sasuke picked up on his awkward pause.

"Wait you don't really believe her do you?" he asked sounding concerned now. "You can't actually believe dad would have murdered the Sandaime and took control of Konoha by means of blackmail?"

"Um ... I don't actually know for certain what Fugaku had to do with the Sandaime's death," he said lamely, still reaching for anything he could say to diffuse the situation.

"So that's how it is," Sasuke said angrily. "I noticed how you call mom 'mom,' but dad is always 'Fugaku.' You've never really thought of him as family have you?"

Naruto was expecting him to continue his tirade, but instead Sasuke reigned himself in and calmed down.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke told him. "I got a little carried away there. But you can understand why I'd be a little touchy about you becoming friends with someone who admits to wanting to bring down my clan right? Just tell me it was a misunderstanding or that you're still loyal to the clan, or anything and I'll believe you."

But Naruto still remained silent, not willing to lie to his brother about this and knowing that telling the truth would only make things worse.

He had to admit Sasuke gave him plenty of time to respond. But when Naruto refused to say anything he gave him a look that radiated anger and betrayal before turning his back to Naruto and walking off on his own.

Not knowing what to do about this situation, he decided to deal with it later and make good on one of his promises instead. Fugaku had departed before him and should have already arrived back in Konoha. He was going to see what he could do about the hostages.

******

Naruto had arrived at the Hokage's Tower and had been quickly ushered in to Fugaku's office when he'd requested to see him.

"Hello, Naruto," Fugaku said cheerfully. "What can I help you with today?"

"I want you to release the hostages from the other clans," Naruto stated, getting right to the point.

"As far as I'm concerned, they're free to go," Fugaku replied, "But I'm afraid I have no control over that."

If he was surprised at all by Naruto's demand, he hid it well. That certainly wasn't what Naruto was expecting.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, "You're the one who captured them, you can set them free, right?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Naruto," Fugaku told him. "You see it wasn't just the Uchiha Clan that took control after the Sandaime's death. We had the help of a man named Danzo, who has a large force of ninja loyal to himself. After my predecessor's demise, each of us went after that which was most important to us."

Pausing, the older man looked at Naruto. "I choose to take you in. Danzo seized control of the hostages. His forces have had them under their control ever since."

"The hostages were only supposed to be a temporary measure," Fugaku continued. "Insurance against anyone doing anything rash until tempers had settled. Danzo disagreed and felt it necessary to retain their services. I've begun to suspect over the years that he's deliberately trying turn all of Konoha against me."

"If you had this all planned out, then does that mean you really did assassinate the Sandaime?" Naruto accused.

"That's right," Fugaku said, surprising Naruto again by his openness. "He was a good enough leader to those he cared for. Unfortunately for us, he cared little for our clan. In his long reign, he continued the policy of denying anyone from our clan any position of real power."

"What's worse," he continued, "he was an old man who hadn't named a successor. And looking at who was likely to be chosen to replace him if he died, there was a strong possibility things could have become much worse. So I took matters into my own hands. For the sake of my clan I had him killed and I don't regret it."

Stunned, Naruto asked the only question he could think of. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because I trust you," Fugaku answered. "I don't like lying to you, and I know you're the type of person who will do the right thing."

But how was he supposed to do the right thing when he didn't even know what the right thing was?

******

Naruto was walking back home after his meeting with Fugaku. What could he do about the hostages now? This Danzo guy didn't seem like the reasonable type. He was so lost in thought that he was completely caught of guard as he was suddenly pulled into an alley with a hand clamped over his mouth.

"Remember me?" a voice asked from behind him.

He most certainly did. That was the voice of the last person to do this to him the night the Sandaime died.

But rather than following through on his method from last time, he released Naruto. Turning around he saw a silver-haired man with a mask covering the bottom half of his face and a Konoha headband blocking one of his eyes.

"It seems I forgot to introduce myself last time we met, but I'm Hatake Kakashi," he told Naruto.

"If you're here, does that mean you're planning to make your move?" Naruto asked.

"That's right," he confirmed. "We've been ready for a while now and just waiting for an opportune moment. Many of those loyal to Fugaku are still in Sunagakure ensuring things go smoothly there. We think that makes for a pretty good opening. So I'm here to warn you and to tell you how best you can help out."

"Hold up," Naruto interrupted. "I haven't agreed to help you yet."

"I was afraid of this," Kakashi mumbled. "They took you in, it's only natural you'd feel some attachment to them. You do know what they've done in this village since they took over right?"

"You mean the hostages?" Naruto asked.

"So you do know about that, huh? And you're still sure you don't want to help?"

"I'm not sure about anything," Naruto answered truthfully. "This isn't easy for me."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped then," Kakashi said and turned to leave.

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell Fugaku about your plans?" Naruto called after him.

"No," he replied simply. "Your father was my sensei. I have to believe that any son of his, no matter who raised him, would know that wasn't the right thing to do."

"You know who my father is?" he asked excitedly.

He'd always just imagined he was some orphan of unknown parentage.

"So they didn't tell you?" he asked. "Your father was the Yondaime Hokage."

Almost as soon as he'd said it, Kakashi vanished, leaving a stunned Naruto behind.

******

When he finally arrived home, it was well past when he would normally turn in for the night. But his mother was still up waiting for him.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "Sasuke was home over two hours ago."

"I just had some things to do," he replied.

"Does it have anything to do with why Sasuke seemed upset with you?" she queried. "I had to drag out of him the simple fact that nothing was wrong with you, and he refused to tell me anything else."

"Sort of," Naruto admitted. "But it's kind of complicated."

"Well, however 'complicated' it may seem to you now, these things usually appear quite silly when you look back on them," she advised.

"You're probably right," he told her. "I'm just going to sleep on it and see if I can't figure out what do to tomorrow."

"That sounds like a good decision. Good night."

Heading up to his room he lay in bed completely unable to sleep. Everything was so confusing, conflicting thoughts flying around in his mind.

Unable to stand them anymore he got up and went back downstairs, as if the simple act would make things clearer for him. He was surprised to see Itachi sitting there at the table without any lights on.

"Can't sleep?" Itachi asked him.

"I've just got a lot of stuff on my mind," Naruto answered. "It seems everyone expects me to behave a certain way, and I just don't know what do to."

"Do you mind if I offer some advice?" Itachi queried.

"Go right ahead. It can't make things any less clear to me."

"Don't let anyone make the decision for you," Itachi told him. "I made that mistake once and it's something I still regret. Maybe I would have come to the same conclusion myself, but I can't be certain of that now. Above all you need to do what you feel is the right thing. It's your opinion that matters."

"What I feel is the right thing," Naruto repeated, testing the thought out in his mind.

After playing around with it, he decided he liked the idea.

"Thanks Itachi," he said gratefully.

Naruto now knew what he needed to do.

******

**AN**

What choice has Naruto made? Who has Kakashi recruited to aid him and what is their plan? How will it all turn out? Please do tell me, I haven't the slightest idea.

But kidding aside, I have the next chapter all planned out. But you'll have to wait to find out the answers. A bit of a cliffhanger here, but don't worry I promise that I won't leave you hanging again with a random interlude chapter that does nothing to progress the plot. Unless I'm in a particularly sadistic mood.

I asked a couple of chapters ago, but seeing as the point has finally arrived, I'll ask again. What do you, the readers, hope Naruto will do?


	7. Chapter 7

"Hokage-sama!" a voice yelled, as a younger member of his clan entered Fugaku's office.

He'd been just about to leave for the night too. The young man paused as if waiting for instructions. It irked Fugaku how often this happened. Something so urgent came up that they would run right into his office screaming, but after entering they wouldn't actually tell him what it was until ordered to do so.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently, in order to finally get the man talking.

"A sizable force of enemy ninja has been spotted approaching the village," he reported. "They appear to be from the Otogakure."

What was a tiny village like that doing provoking Konoha? Something about this didn't feel right.

"Where are they headed?" he demanded to know.

"Well, we can't be certain it's their target," the younger Uchiha stated, "but they seem to be headed in the general direction of the cave where the hostages are held."

"Tell me that sooner!" Fugaku berated the man. "I don't believe in a coincidence of that magnitude. Find Itachi and have him meet me there. Also, wake the entire clan and have them prepare for combat."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," he answered, but just stood there as if awaiting further instructions.

"What are you waiting for?" he questioned crossly. "Get moving."

The man finally made a hasty retreat. He couldn't believe how far the youth of Konoha had fallen. It seemed even among his own clan they were nothing but imbeciles. Grabbing a few of the guards stationed outside his office, he departed quickly to put a stop to this incursion.

Otogakure must have found out about the hostages somehow, but what could they be after? Could they simply be hoping to blackmail Konoha much as Fugaku, himself, had done? Somehow, he didn't think it was that simple.

******

"The latest scouting report shows they're still heading this way," one guard announced to his partner.

The two black haired men were dressed in a standard Uchiha outfit with the clan symbol prominently displayed.

"It's pretty clear now that this is their destination," he continued. "Should we kill the brats before they get here?"

His partner considered this for a while before shaking his head.

"No, a lot of them have real potential. It'd be a shame to lose them. I think we've done enough for our purposes already. Let's just pull out."

Making good on his plans, the two men gathered up the few other guards on duty and departed, leaving the cave abandoned of all except the captives. Once they were a good distance away from the cave, each of them dropped their Henge. Then they set out toward where they could receive further instructions from Danzo.

******

It looked like they'd made it just in time. Fugaku, Itachi, and four other Uchiha elite touched down just as the hostages were being lead from the caves.

"Move away from the children and surrender immediately," Fugaku ordered the foreign ninja. "If you do so, you may yet survive."

"I think you should be worrying about your own survival," said a voice from behind him.

Startled at not having detected the speaker before then, he turned around and was unable to suppress a gasp. All three of the legendary Sannin were arrayed behind him, Orochimaru having been the unknown speaker.

"Take the kids back into the cave and guard them until this is over," Jiraiya ordered, but rather than obey they looked to Orochimaru for confirmation.

"Do it," the man confirmed. "My teammates won't be able to fight properly if they're at risk. They're very sentimental types."

"So you're the leader of Otogakure, huh?" Fugaku asked the snake Sannin. "What interest does a traitor like you have in Konoha politics anyway?"

"You mean it's not enough to want to avenge my dear departed sensei? Or want to work with my old team one more time?" he asked mockingly. "But if you must know, I have been promised a certain something I'm interested in as payment for my services."

"Well don't think the three of you and some ragtag forces from a backwater village can stand against the might of Konoha," Fugaku told them confidently.

"I think you'll find you have more than just us to worry about," Jiraiya retorted. "Kakashi is going around right now gathering up support from the other clans. With the hostages safe, I don't think he'll find any shortage of help."

Frowning, he turned to the ninja that had come with Itachi and him.

"You four, go and capture Kakashi," he ordered. "And make sure that he hasn't stirred up too much trouble."

He wished he could have kept at least some of them, but Kakashi was not the sort of man to be underestimated. This was going to be a difficult battle, but if they could hold out, they should receive aid before long. He'd try to keep them talking for now.

"But you haven't really freed them yet have you?" he asked.

Seeing Jiraiya's face begin to turn an unusual shade of purple he realized that Itachi was already at work. The man didn't even realize he hadn't been breathing for the last minute or so.

Sadly, before he passed out, Tsunade noticed as well and reacted by giving her teammate a rather fierce punch to the gut, expelling the air from his lungs, and breaking the Genjutsu. His breathing started up again, returning his face returned to a more normal color.

"There are easier ways to break me out of a Genjutsu, you know," Jiraiya wheezed.

"That was Genjutsu?" Tsunade asked facetiously, "I thought you'd just forgotten to breathe."

Distracted by their antics, he almost didn't notice Orochimaru in time, just barely managing to dodge a strike from him. He was glad he'd removed his Hokage robes before coming here, as even the fraction of a second they would have delayed him would have been too much.

Fugaku quickly went on the defensive, doing everything he could just stay alive as Orochimaru pressed his assault. The worst thing was, he was only using Taijutsu, kunai, and shuriken so far, but Orochimaru was a known Ninjutsu specialist.

"So weak," Orochimaru mocked. "You're a disgrace to the Hokage name."

It was obvious Orochimaru was only toying with him. But hopefully, his overconfidence would be his downfall. Fugaku may not be as powerful as his predecessors had been, but he was sure Itachi could have competed with the best of them.

******

Jiraiya couldn't believe this fight was still going on. He knew the kid was supposed to be a prodigy but this was ridiculous. He'd managed to avoid taking any injuries while fighting two of the Sannin at the same time. Not only was he faster than he had any right to be, but he was an expert at Genjutsu.

Even with Jiraiya knowing they would be coming, his opponent had a knack for subtly slipping in a minor Genjutsu. So he kept finding his finishing blow was just a couple inches to the right of where it needed to be, or that Itachi was standing a foot further back than he thought was.

In such a manner, he'd somehow been hanging on throughout the fight. The only salve to his bruised ego was that Itachi seemed to be struggling too much with not being killed to mount much of a counter-offensive. But then, he could fight defensively, since time was probably still on his side.

Pulling out a kunai, Itachi slashed it across the palm of his left hand. Was he going to summon something? He hadn't heard of the boy having any contracts, and that cut was a bit overkill for a summon.

Hearing a scream from Tsunade, he realized its true purpose. He must have heard about her hemophobia. Breaking away from Jiraiya, he dashed towards Tsunade, bleeding palm extended towards her. She cowered away from him as he approached, only to lash out with a fist right as he got in range.

The suddenness of this caught even Itachi off guard. And while he did catch the fist with his bleeding palm, Tsunade's monstrous strength ensured that his effort only reduced the force of the blow, which continued into his face, lifting his whole body of the ground.

As Jiraiya attempted to make use of the confusion to get in his own blow, he could have sworn that a brief glimpse of Itachi's mouth showed him now missing a couple of teeth. But Itachi was too skilled to let that distract him, and was going through hand seals the instant his new backward momentum had freed him from Tsunade's fist.

A stream of fire blocked Jiraiya and Tsunade's respective advances and allowed him time to recover.

"It appears you've gotten over your phobia," Itachi declared calmly, not seeming at all rattled by his mistake.

"You think I would get involved in something like this without taking care of such a major weakness first?" she replied.

"No, I suppose not," Itachi answered.

It looked like their fight had dragged on too long, as he sensed someone else in the clearing. He glanced in the directions of the intruder to see Orochimaru's old student, Anko, launching at attack at her former sensei.

"Anko, he's helping us topple the Uchiha Clan," he called to her, hoping she would see reason. "Let him go for now and help us take them down."

"Let me make one thing clear," she yelled in reply, "I don't care who wins this little civil war, but I am not passing up a chance to kill this treacherous snake."

Jiraiya gave that argument up as a lost cause. He just wished Orochimaru would have taken out Fugaku earlier rather than toying with him. Although even with Anko helping the man, he was still probably more than capable of ending the fight quickly if he would get serious.

But then, maybe Jiraiya should do so himself before he started accusing anyone of not putting forth their full effort.

"Can you hold him off by yourself for a little while?" he asked Tsunade.

"No problem," she replied. "You haven't exactly been very useful in the first place."

He wanted to fire back a retort, but the fact that she had been the only one to actually get in a successful attack put him in a bad position for that. Well, let her see just how easy he was to fight without Jiraiya's help! In that frame of mind he dropped back and went through the hand seals for a summon.

In a puff of smoke, Shima and Fukasaku, two toad elders, appeared.

"What are you calling us out for this time?" Shima asked irritably.

"No time," Jiraiya said. "Tsunade is fighting a monster on her own. I need to enter sage mode now."

"That boy over there?" Shima asked dubiously. "You've really let yourself go if you can't handle a kid like him without our help."

"Not now, Ma," Fukasaku berated her.

They continued to bicker, but at least did hop up onto his shoulders allowing him to start the process of entering sage mode. Natural energy began to flow into him, and his body began to reshape in response the imperfect balance he had between it and his chakra.

Rejoining the battle, Itachi wasn't able to keep up with Jiraiya's enhanced speed, especially while having to deal with Tsunade at the same time. Finally slipping through his defenses, Jiraiya got a full power blow to the young man's chest, feeling ribs give way beneath him.

Not even giving him time to recover, he followed it up with a powerful kick to side of his head. Rolling along the ground, he came to a stop and shakily got to his feet. The tomoe in his Sharingan were swirling around in an almost drunken manner. It was the first time he'd ever had a chance to see the effects of a concussion on the Sharingan.

Sensing something none of them could miss, all fighting stopped as their attention was drawn to a source of chakra that had appeared a short distance away.

"It seems help has arrived," Fugaku said smugly.

"Don't feel so sure he's on your side," Jiraiya fired back.

******

A fourth tail sprung about behind Naruto as he braced himself for the effects of it. His entire skin felt as if he'd just entered a bath that was too hot for comfort. Fortunately, none of his skin was actually burning off. And while he had to suppress a new rage coming from deep within him, he was able to remain in control.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't supposed to try this again yet, but it seemed all his training had paid off. He had a feeling he was going to need all the power he could get.

Charging swiftly towards where the battle was taking place, he reflected on the conclusions he'd reached. Fugaku's crimes were unforgivable. Even taking everything the man had told him at face value that was still the case. He'd murdered the Sandaime when they hadn't exhausted all other options.

And he may have wanted the hostages released at some point, but he'd supported their capture and use in the first place. These were crimes for which the man should pay, and he certainly didn't deserve to be Hokage.

He'd realized this during his introspection. He'd also realized it didn't matter to him. The man had taken him in, given him a family, treated him kindly, stopped the harsh treatment of the villagers. His life had become so much better than he'd ever imagined it would be in the days before the coup.

Whatever crimes the man had committed, he still owed the man far too much to betray him. And beyond even him, there were Sasuke and his mother to consider. They had been an even larger part of what had made his life great and were innocent of Fugaku's crimes.

So now it was time to repay them. And with that, he let out a feral roar and charged into to the fight.

******

This was worse even than the fight with Itachi had been. Naruto was almost as fast as Jiraiya was, even in Sage mode. But worse, the demonic chakra around him seemed to protect him from attacks, and the one time he'd even tried to attack him physically he'd burned his hand just touching it.

It seemed to be doing a number on the boy's clothes too. His shirt was now in tatters, leaving the Yondaime's seal clearly visible. Thankfully, his pants seemed to be made of sturdier materials, leaving him decent. Although he idly wondered if the boy could teach any kunoichi to reproduce that effect.

Currently, he was doing his best to keep the boy's attention and stay alive. Tsunade was trying to finish off Itachi, who was weakened by his injuries. Jiraiya was grateful he hadn't waited any longer to get serious. He didn't want to think of how this fight would be going if Itachi was still in top form.

Glancing over, he saw that Orochimaru seemed to finally be getting a little serious having taken out Kusanagi. It looked as if Anko had been removed from the fight as well, lying on the ground unmoving. Jiraiya hoped he hadn't killed the poor girl.

Suddenly realizing his mistake, he cursed himself for getting distracted. Even that brief instant had been all Naruto needed to finally tag Jiraiya and slam him into the ground, creating a small crater. Stunned by the blow, he had no time to prepare for the follow-up, which seemed designed to finish him off.

But before it could be delivered he stopped and reared back as if in pain. Seeing a blue beam connected to the jinchuuriki's chest he followed it to the other end and saw Tenzo standing about 30 feet away from Naruto. The red chakra was starting to retreat from around the area of that beam.

"Since when can you do that from so far away?" Naruto said in a deep guttural voice he attributed to a side effect of the Kyuubi's chakra.

"A little something I worked out after all our practice," Tenzo replied calmly.

"No! I won't be beaten like this!" Naruto cried out.

And indeed after saying so, the red chakra seemed to start fighting back, once again encroaching upon the area that had been cleansed by Tenzo's technique. But before it could close up, Orochimaru rushed in slammed his palm into the boy's stomach, taking advantage of the opening in Kyuubi's Chakra Tenzo had provided.

A second seal appeared around the one that bound Kyuubi within Naruto, strengthening that cage and cutting the boy off from the bijuu's chakra.

The boy let out a scream and drooped unconscious to the ground. He saw Fugaku trying to use the moment's distraction to attack Orochimaru from behind and started to call out a warning. But it was unnecessary, as he spun and cleanly separated the man's head from his shoulders with Kusanagi, putting a definitive end to Fugaku's reign.

"Did you have to do that?" he asked.

"Don't be so cold, Jiraiya-kun. I was doing you a favor" he replied, "I know you're determined to try to handle this without wiping out the entire clan. There are many who would insist on his execution, and his clan would never peacefully allow for that to happen. Easiest just to have him die in battle."

Jiraiya knew he was right, but wasn't about to admit it. Turning his head towards the sound of a large thud, he found the cause to have been Tsunade dropping Itachi's unconscious body onto the ground.

"Nice of you to help me out after you finished up over here," she said irritably.

"We knew you could handle it," Jiraiya replied cheerfully.

"I've freed the hostages as promised. And seeing as I have my payment right here, I'll leave the rest to you," Orochimaru declared, smirking in that annoying manner of his.

Then, lifting the limp form of Itachi over his shoulder, he gathered his men who were exiting the cave and departed.

******

"Mom, are you in there?" Sasuke called from the door to Mikoto's bedroom.

"Yes, I was just doing a little reading," she replied.

"Something's going on outside," he told her. "And whatever it is I don't like it. I want to get you out of here and take you somewhere safer."

She could tell by the sound of his voice that he was serious, so she quickly got up and made her way to the door, sliding it open.

"Where's Naruto?" she asked. If there really was trouble, she was worried that he would find his way right to the center of it. He seemed to have a knack for that.

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted. "But I'm sure he's fine."

She wasn't so confident, but didn't know what she could do for him at the moment, so she followed Sasuke towards the main entrance to the house. But they found their way blocked by a blond-haired man who she recognized as Yamanaka Inoichi.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave," he informed them. "I'm going to have to ask you to put down your weapons and come with me."

Not willing to comply, Sasuke charged the man, but came to a sudden halt before he reached him.

"You should listen to him," said another man who had hidden his presence until then.

He must be Nara Shikaku, she realized when she saw that it was the man's shadow that had caused Sasuke to stop.

Seeing the boy continue to struggle, despite being restrained by the man's jutsu, Shikaku walked towards Sasuke and threw some kind of power in his face, causing him to slump as if unconscious. The jutsu kept him standing, causing him to look like a puppet held up by strings.

"Sasuke!" Mikoto called out worriedly.

"Don't worry Ma'am," Inoichi said politely. "He's just asleep. We're not going to hurt either of you, but I'm afraid that we are going to have to take you into custody. It's not safe for an Uchiha to be wandering around tonight."

Knowing there was nothing she could do, she went along quietly. But her inner thoughts were a chaotic contrast to her calm outward appearance. She was filled with worry for Sasuke, Naruto, Itachi, her husband, her friends and neighbors in the Uchiha district, and a thousand other things.

She didn't care if her husband was overthrown, as it appeared might be happening. She just wanted them all to make it through this. That was enough for her. They could deal with whatever else happened when it did.

******

It was like a dream come true for Hinata. Hatake Kakashi had shown up at the clan compound claiming the hostages had been freed and asking their help to overthrow the Uchiha Clan. Her father had quickly agreed, but had forbidden her from coming with. Soon the room that had been filling with Hyuuga Clan members was left nearly deserted as most of its occupants departed to follow Kakashi.

Hinata was tempted to defy her orders and go after them, but as much as she'd worked on her self-confidence, she still didn't have the courage to openly defy her father's orders. But he hadn't said she had to stay here had he? If she couldn't help them, at least she could go ensure that Hanabi was alright.

Sneaking out, she departed towards the location she knew that they were held. Its location was not meant to be kept secret from them. She'd even been there more than once when they'd insisted on her visiting Hanabi after one of their sessions.

It was just that they'd designed the facility to be almost impossible to sneak up on. And the results of any failed rescue attempt would be harsh enough that no one had dared to try it.

Moving through the forest, she wondered if they would even still be there. And what would she do if the place was empty? But her fears were unfounded as when she entered the clearing the children were still congregated there.

Almost as soon as she'd arrived, she heard a familiar voice screaming in frustration. "For the last time you stupid brats. Get away from me. I didn't even come here to help you, and if you don't leave me alone I'm going to stick you all back in the cave."

The voice belonged to Anko, who was sitting on the ground, wrapped in bandages and surrounded by a number of the children. What she was doing there, Hinata had no idea.

Putting that aside to think on some other time, she looked around the clearing. She quickly spotted Hanabi standing with her back to Hinata while a young blonde woman knelt down in front of her with her hands on Hanabi's face.

Quickly moving towards her sister, the woman stood up as she saw her approach.

"I can do more for you later with the proper tools," she told Hanabi.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," Hanabi replied, her voice and whole body language making it clear that she was very sincere. "You did more than enough just freeing us."

Tsunade? Of the Sannin? She mentally retracted her previous labeling of her as a young woman. Noticing that Tsunade was gazing at someone behind her now, Hanabi turned around and spotted Hinata.

"Nee-san!" she cried out, running up to Hinata and engulfing her in a hug.

Hinata returned the embrace wholeheartedly. She was startled at how much better Hanabi looked than the last time she saw her. The scars on her face having faded to where they were much less prominent. She supposed that must have been what Tsunade was doing when she'd arrived.

The younger girl was now sobbing in her arms, her appearance seeming to have broken the composure she'd forced on herself in front in Tsunade. It was as if all the pent up emotions of her captivity were gushing out right then.

Hinata could understand her reaction, unable to hold back tears completely, herself, at finally being reunited with her sister. But she felt she should try to comfort the younger girl in some way.

"It's alright," she said soothingly. "You're free now. And I'll never let anything like that happen to you again."

The promise did seem to offer some solace to her sister, who calmed a little. But they still remained locked in their embrace for some time after that.

******

Danzo was pleased with himself. He was currently helping direct the invasion of a section of the Uchiha compound. He made sure to encourage the use of the deadly force. For many, that took very little encouragement.

He almost regretted it coming to this. Using Fugaku, he'd been able to get a lot done these past few years. But the original plan was still the best way to go. The Uchiha Clan was far too dangerous. They were unstable, bitter, and had nothing but hate towards anyone but themselves.

Itachi may have refused his order to eliminate the rest of the clan back before this started, but when Danzo was determined to do something, it got done. He knew that if put in power, the clan would bring about its own demise, especially with a little help from him.

It had almost happened too fast, and he'd even been forced to take steps to prevent an uprising early on. Too soon and it would have interfered with some of his other plans.

His only real regret was how that cursed Hatake was foolish enough to hope to reform some of the Uchiha rather than eradicating them all. But it mattered little. Fugaku was dead, Itachi probably wouldn't survive Orochimaru's experiments for long, and his own forces were doing their best to take out any other clan members they could in the confusion.

In addition, a number of Uchicha were still in Suna or on other missions. He doubted many of them would accept any offers to return, and he would make sure those who refused were labeled missing-nin. Then Danzo could have them hunted down at his leisure.

It wasn't complete extermination, but the clan was broken, and would likely never be a significant threat again. Not that he was going to leave it at that, but it was a good start.

The source of his inability to finish up on that good start chose that moment to appear next to him.

"I'm surprised to find you fighting on this side," Kakashi said.

"I don't think that I like what you're implying," Danzo replied sharply.

"Well, I've been told that you did claim to have witnessed the Sandaime naming Fugaku his successor," Kakashi informed him, somehow sounding as if he were just having a casual conversation despite the obvious accusation his words contained.

"And so I believed to be the case for some time," Danzo lied. "However, I have long suspected, and recently received confirmation, that my perceptions of that event had been manipulated by the Uchiha Clan and their accursed Sharingan."

"Yes, it's fortunate for you that this revelation came out when it did," Kakashi commented.

"I've been just as loyal a participant in this as any number of others who served Fugaku during his reign," Danzo barked angrily, "Unless you plan on punishing us all, I suggest you stop accusing me and get back to work on securing Konoha."

"Now, now, I haven't accused you of anything," Kakashi replied. "I'm just glad that this misunderstanding I had about your role in things got cleared up. As for securing Konoha, I've heard that you've had a bit of bad luck."

"Supposedly, you run into a lot of people who refuse to surrender, leaving you no choice but to defend yourself with deadly force," he continued. "I thought I'd stick around and see if I could turn your luck around, as those I've run into have been somewhat more cooperative."

Let Kakashi play games while he could. He wouldn't let the younger man spoil his mood. Besides, with everything going on, it wouldn't be odd for an Uchiha or two to disappear. Some had to escape after all. Danzo looked forward to replacing his lost eye in the near future.

******

**AN**

There you have it, the climax of part 1. But the story is far from over. I made it clear for a while that Naruto would be forced to pick a side, but I doubt many of you predicted that he'd come out on the loosing end.

The next chapter will feature reactions, fallouts, and tie up as many loose ends as I can from part 1. But you'll also get the first glimpse of the direction I'm taking the second part of the story.

As always, reviews are encouraged.


	8. Chapter 8

"I still don't like giving anything to that snake," Tsunade said bitterly. "Orochimaru with a Sharingan, in charge of his own village, is not something we need."

Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were finally satisfied that the village was under control, with all Uchiha Clan members still in the village properly detained. Now the three of them were discussing where to go from there.

Kakashi agreed with Tsunade's sentiments. He was living proof the Sharingan could be transplanted, and he doubted Orochimaru would pass up on the opportunity. But they hadn't been able to find a better option. They needed a force that couldn't be linked to Konoha in any way. That way, they wouldn't have cause to kill the hostages. And against the Sharingan, a simple Henge wouldn't be sufficient.

Tsunade knew all this as well, but he couldn't blame her for not wanting to let the matter go. Still, their time was better served discussing other issues.

"We need to decide on the matter of who will take over as the next Hokage," he announced, ignoring Tsunade's complaint.

"I think you're the obvious choice," Jiraiya answered. "You put all of this together and you're now a hero among the populace."

"That may be," Kakashi admitted, "but the position of Hokage requires a bit more punctuality and responsibility than I'm capable of."

"Don't give me that," Jiraiya retorted, "That may have been true years ago, but when was the last time you've even been late to anything?"

Startled a bit, Kakashi realized he was having trouble thinking of a case. But that was probably just because things were so busy. And he couldn't exactly make regular trips to Konoha to visit graves or memorials could he? He could easily see himself falling back into his bad habits once things calmed down.

"Still," he finally replied, looking for a way to avoid having this pinned on him, "I think you would be a better choice. I'm still a bit young for the position, and you're the better ninja."

"Maybe for now," Jiraiya answered, "but give it a few years. Besides, if you think you have issues that make you unfit for the position, imagine how my 'research' will go over."

Realizing this wasn't going well for him, he turned to Tsunade, hoping she could offer him salvation.

"Don't look at me," she told him. "I only helped out for sensei's sake. I still hate this village. In fact, I'm leaving as soon as I can. Besides, could you imagine me as Hokage?"

"Look," Jiraiya added, "we can't afford to keep arguing about this. I'm sure Danzo will waste little time in making his own push for the job. Right now you're popular enough you could easily win the position over him, but he's not without support, and I wouldn't give him a moment more than necessary to make his case unopposed."

He knew when he was beaten.

"Fine, but don't be surprised if I implement harsher penalties for voyeurism," Kakashi said petulantly.

"You know, that would really make it hard for me to do my research," Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "It might slow down the speed at which I can write my books. And I probably wouldn't be very inclined to send any more early copies to the person who impeded my efforts in such a way either."

"Now, now," Kakashi said placatingly, "there's no need to be hasty. I was just joking. In fact, maybe there's something I could do to help you with your work."

He felt a dark aura behind them a moment before both he and Jiraiya received painful blows to the head.

"That's enough out of you two perverts," Tsunade said angrily. "Kakashi, go get yourself made Hokage. Jiraiya, go drown yourself or something."

The two of them wisely made a hasty retreat.

******

Naruto sat in a dimly lit cell. Only the back of the cell was a real wall, the other three sides being composed of vertical metal bars. This gave him a clear view of similar cells going off in either direction to the sides and another row of cells on the opposite side of the hall.

None of them seemed to be occupied. He hadn't seen another person since he woke up in this cell a couple of hours ago. No one had responded to his yells either. It looked like he'd picked up a couple of new seals while unconscious. One of them surrounded the Kyuubi's seal and glowed whenever he tried to activate the bijuu's chakra. It also prevented him from doing so.

The other seal was a smaller one on his chest. It glowed if he tried to use his own chakra and stopped him just as stubbornly as the first did. At least the cell was dry and warm. But his room was devoid of any furnishings.

But he'd found ways to keep himself occupied while he waited for something to happen. There was lying down on the hard floor, sitting on the hard floor, pacing around the room, and when he really got frustrated, seeing if any of the bars would come loose.

Hours of entertainment right there. In fact, he'd completely lost track of the 3 hours and 27 minutes he'd been waiting by the time something actually happened. He saw Sasuke being lead in by a couple of guards.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" Naruto yelled at the group.

But his demands were completely ignored. Stopping at the cell next to his, they opened it and stuffed Sasuke inside.

"We'll just let you two have some time together. You probably don't have much left," one of the guards mocked cruelly before the two turned and departed. They were followed out by a stream of insults from Naruto.

Finally turning his attention to his brother, the other boy turned his head away from him as soon as he looked his way. But not before Naruto was able to see the bruising on his face even in the dim light.

"What did they do to you?" he asked, out of concern.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he said in reply. "Emotions are pretty high tonight and some of them roughed me up a bit. It's not like they tortured me or anything. Apparently, that's more than can be said for my clan."

"Oh, you found out about that, huh?" Naruto asked weakly.

"I heard some things since I was captured, yeah," he admitted.

They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say.

"I want to apologize," Sasuke finally said. "After everything I said to you, you were right all along."

"I talked to Fugaku the night before the attack, and it's not quite as bad as they probably made it sound," he said, trying to soften the emotional blow Sasuke must be feeling, at least a little.

"So he even admitted to you some of what he did?" Sasuke asked. "And despite all that, you still defended us?"

"Hey, I promised I would, didn't I?"

"Still, I won't forget what you did," Sasuke vowed.

"He's dead, you know," he continued after a pause.

"Who is?" Naruto asked.

"Dad," he answered. "Orochimaru killed him."

"What about mom and Itachi?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"I haven't been able to find out what happened to nii-san, but mom was fine last I saw her. I don't know how long she'll stay that way, though. There are many people with a lot of reasons to hate dad. They can't get to him now, so his family is the next closest thing."

That included Sasuke as well, Naruto realized. His family was in a lot of trouble and with these stupid seals, he couldn't think of how he could help them. They sat in silence as the minutes ticked by, neither much in the mood to talk further.

"Hello in there," a voice called from outside the cage, breaking the silence. "Are either of you two an Uzumaki Naruto."

Turning to the voice, he saw a dark haired man. His eyes were immediately drawn to the weird mask the man wore, made up of a giant orange swirl. Also odd was the fact that it only had a single eyehole. When he'd finished taking in the mask, he next noticed the dark robes the man was wearing that were decorated with red clouds.

"Yeah, but who are you?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"I'm Tobi," the man replied. "And I'm supposed to get you out of here."

"Why should he trust you?" Sasuke asked. "We have no idea who you are or what you want."

"If it'll make this go any faster, I'll tell you," Tobi replied. "My organization has something of an interest in the bijuu. To that end, we kind of need Naruto alive. There's a good chance he won't be in that condition long if we leave him here."

"So I'll just be going from one prison to another?" Naruto queried.

"Nah, we don't need you yet," Tobi replied, still sounding way too cheerful for being in the middle of a prison break. "And it'd be a pain to take care of you until we're ready."

"How do we know you'll really just let him go?" Sasuke asked distrustfully.

"You don't, but considering your situation, don't you think that it's worth that risk?" Tobi replied.

This did provide him an opportunity if he played this right. He just had to hope this 'Tobi' didn't have anything too sinister planned.

"I'll go with you," Naruto told him, "but only if you free Sasuke, Itachi, and our mom too."

"This isn't how this is supposed to go," Tobi whined. "Prisoners making demands of the person trying to rescue them? It just isn't done that way."

"I can sit in this cage all day," Naruto told him stubbornly.

"Fine," Tobi conceded, "there's nothing I can do for Itachi, but I'll take Sasuke and your mom with."

Naruto didn't like the way that sounded regarding Itachi, but it didn't look like he was going to get anything better.

"Deal," he agreed.

"OK, I'll be right back," Tobi said, and vanished in front of their eyes.

He was trying to figure out where the man had gone, when he reappeared seconds later, holding their mother's hand.

"What did you just do?" their mother asked before looking around and spotting the two boys.

"Naruto! Sasuke! You're not hurt, are you?" She asked worriedly.

"Ok, everyone over here and grab my arm," Tobi ordered.

Naruto and Sasuke hesitated briefly, but complied, moving to the front of their cages and reaching through the bars. When they had done so, everything went black for a moment before the world came into focus around them. But they certainly weren't in that prison anymore.

Getting his bearings, Naruto realized they were now outside of Konoha, just at the edge of the woods beyond the wall. But how had they gotten here? Had they just teleported? Or was it some sort of Genjutsu meant to impress them when they'd really escaped by other means?

"The Uchiha Clan members who escaped the coup are headed for Kirigakure," Tobi informed them. "I'd suggest trying to meet up with them."

Not giving them any further chance for discussion, he vanished again.

"As much as I don't trust him, I think we should follow his advice for now," Sasuke suggested.

"Well ... um ... actually ... I'm going back to Konoha," Naruto declared, knowing this wouldn't go over well.

"What are you talking about?" his mother cried out incredulously. "Of course you're coming with us."

"I had to get you two out because it's not safe for you there right now, but Konoha is my home, and I don't want to leave it," Naruto insisted.

"It's not safe for you in Konoha right now either, and we all have to deal with leaving our home," his mother argued.

"But I heard them talking," Naruto lied, "They're not willing to risk killing me because they're afraid it will release the Kyuubi."

It'd be nice if they did feel that way, but he hadn't heard one way or the other. But he hoped saying so would help calm down his mother.

"Even if you will be fine, I still want you to come with us," she insisted. "We're a family; we should stick together."

"But I want us all to be together again in Konoha," Naruto said stubbornly. "I want to stay there so I can help convince them to let you come back peacefully."

It was clear she planned to argue further, but Sasuke cut her off.

"Give it up mom," he told her. "He's determined to do this, and he'll argue right until we get spotted and are all recaptured if you let him. Just trust him, he'll be fine."

She wavered briefly, uncertainty showing on her face, but then she caved, wrapping her arms around the boy.

"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself," she ordered.

"I will," he vowed. "Now you need to get moving before someone sees us."

She was reluctant to do so, but let herself be lead further into the woods by Sasuke. Naruto stood until they were out of sight before beginning his hike around the wall towards the main gate. He openly approached it, letting himself be seen by the guards. Their startled reaction made it clear at exactly what point they recognized just who was walking towards them.

"What are you doing out?" One of the guards yelled fearfully.

"It's kind of a long story," Naruto replied awkwardly, not really having planned out how to handle this. "But I sort of escaped and now I'm turning myself in."

They didn't seem to believe him, but at least weren't acting particularly hostile. One of them nervously led him inside the walls of the village. The escort quickly grew to include other ninja determined to ensure he didn't escape again. And with that, he found himself returned to captivity.

******

"Five years of solitary confinement!" Jiraiya yelled at him. "That's absurd! He's a good kid who just got taken in by the wrong people! He even turned himself back in after helping his family escape!"

Kakashi tried to ignore the ringing in his ears that resulted from volume of the other man's outburst.

"And that's the only reason I was able to get the sentence as light as I could," Kakashi told him. "There are many who are furious it's as light as it is. There's a lot of anger that's built up over the years, and people are determined to take it out on someone. I'm trying to shield both Naruto and the Uchiha, but there's only so much I can do."

"You still should have done more," Jiraiya accused. "Throw the Uchiha to their mercy if you have to, they actually deserve it."

"It's not that easy," Kakashi reasoned. "Fugaku is dead, and the rest of the Uchiha aren't really hated personally, so much as they are as a concept. Naruto is a face they all recognize, someone they can focus their anger on. He's actually harder to protect."

"Whether it's hard or not, you still should have done it," Jiraiya insisted. "He's your own sensei's son for goodness' sake. Don't you care about what happens to him?"

"I'm doing everything I can," Kakashi responded, becoming a bit heated himself in response to his treatment. "I should be able to get his sentence reduced once things have calmed down a bit."

"And if you think you can do so much better, maybe you shouldn't have pushed this job on me," he added, pointing to the Hokage robes he now wore.

"I'll take your word for it for now," Jiraiya told him, "but if I find out you haven't really been putting forth your best effort, you'll hear from me again. And I won't be so polite next time."

With that he stormed out. Kakashi hated this job already, constantly having to deal with meetings like that. And that was with a close friend. Those who didn't like him were much worse than that. Maybe he should just run away from it all. That would make an interesting story, the missing-nin Kage.

As nice as the thought was, he couldn't do that to Konoha. The last thing it needed now was more chaos. So he put the thought aside and checked his schedule instead. Next up was a meeting with Danzo in ten minutes.

Getting up, he began to quickly go around the room grabbing things he'd need and stuffing them in a bag, as quickly as he could manage. Unfortunately the noise attracted the attention of the ANBU guards outside who came in and physically restrained him before he could make good on his escape.

******

Sasuke was glad to finally have the chakra seal off of him. Exhausted from her journey and still grieving the loss of her husband, his mother had retired to their quarters as soon as they'd arrived in Kirigakure.

As much as Sasuke wanted to do the same, he felt it important to gather as much information as he could. So he found himself discussing things with Shisui, who he'd discovered was in charge of those who had escaped.

"So we've been offered asylum without even having to defect or offer anything in return?" Sasuke asked. "That doesn't make any sense, why would the Mizukage risk upsetting Konoha like that?"

"It makes more sense than you think," Shisui answered. "We do possess a very powerful bloodline. You're probably still young enough to avoid it for now, but I suspect most of us will find there to be no shortage of beautiful young women who find us fascinating to be around. The Mizukage probably plans to create her own little Uchiha branch family loyal to Kiri."

"How many of us escaped?" Sasuke asked next, deciding to change topics quickly.

"Six counting your mother and you," Shisui replied. "But there should be nine more still in Sunagakure. I sent one of us straight there after we escaped to warn them. In addition, there are three others out on missions who will hopefully find out what happened and avoid capture."

"What about nii-san?" Sasuke asked, then braced himself for the worst. If there had been good news, he doubted Shisui would have waited for him to ask before telling him.

"Itachi was captured by Orochimaru," Shisui admitted morosely. "We don't know for what purposes."

Orochimaru! The same traitorous snake that killed his father! Did he have something against Sasuke, personally?

"We have to rescue him!" Sasuke demanded.

"Calm down," Shisui ordered firmly. "Itachi was my best friend, and I would give my life for him as quickly as you would. But we have no idea where Orochimaru took him. I promise you, I'll be working hard to find that out, and as soon as I do I'll be right beside you as we go to free him. For now, the best we can do is to prepare ourselves for when that day comes."

Yes, Sasuke would do just that. He vowed he would make Orochimaru pay no matter how long it took. And if he'd done something to Itachi, he'd make it all the worse for the man.

******

Karui had messed up, and now she was in trouble. As soon as news had reached Kumogakure about another coup in Konoha, she'd been dispatched on a reconnaissance mission to find out how things now stood.

Again she cursed this village and their accursed Doujutsu. She'd been traveling around in a Henge spying on the goings on of Konoha when some Hyuuga jerk had seen through her disguise. What had he been doing with his Byakugan activated in the first place? Pervert was probably peeping on someone.

She'd managed to loose her pursuit for now, but was still in the middle of village and knew things would quickly be put on high alert. She mentally brought up the map of Konoha she'd studied and tried to decide where to hide in hopes she could avoid discovery until things blew over.

Actually, she realized she had another option. She was right next to the village's prison. What better distraction than a prison break to allow her to sneak out in the confusion?

Stealthily making her way to the roof, she activated a jutsu and slipped down through it as if it were made of liquid. But when she dropped to the ground, she was disappointed. It looked like the place was abandoned. It figured their information would be outdated. They must have built a newer facility and left this old place to rot. Still, it might make a good place to hide.

Settling down to wait, a few minutes later she heard something not too far in the distance. Had she been wrong about this place being abandoned? Moving down she did find one cell occupied. It contained some blond kid. Judging by his headband, at least he was a ninja, and she supposed some distraction was better than none.

Approaching his cage, she indicated for him to be quiet.

"Hey kid," she told him. "I've got a deal to offer you."

"Huh? Who are you?" he asked.

Ignoring his question she went on, "I'll let you out of your cage, and in return, if I'm found hiding here, you have to help me escape."

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be much use even if you did let me out," the boy replied. "They've sealed my chakra."

That was a good sign. She was afraid he was just some kid who got stuffed in here for a couple of days as punishment for some small mischief. But if they thought he was dangerous enough to seal his chakra, he was be more likely to be amenable to helping her.

"Lucky for you," she told him, "getting those seals off is a lot easier than putting them on."

"Uh ... that's OK, I'm fine with it, really." He answered nervously.

"Don't be such a baby, I'm not going to hurt you," she told him.

Having already picked the lock, she entered his cell and lifted the boy's shirt to find the seal they'd put on him. She did find it, but what really caught her attention was a much more complicated seal on his stomach. She wasn't an expert on seals, but she knew enough to realize that this thing was supposed to modify another seal inside it, one which must not be visible.

That made for complicated series of seals. The only thing she knew of that could compete was ... wait she realized who this was.

"You must be the Kyuubi jinchuuriki," she stated. "Hey, if Konoha doesn't want you, you're welcome to come with me. Kumogakure would be more than happy to have you."

"Really?" the boy asked dubiously. "You actually want a jinchuuriki hanging around?"

"I've been trained by the jinchuuriki of the eight-tailed ox," she informed him. "He's the Raikage's younger brother. I don't know what prejudices Konoha has, but Kumo respects strength, whatever the source."

"Well, I'm still not going to leave," the brat said stubbornly. "But if you really are close to another jinchuuriki, I should warn you of something. You're not the first person to try to rescue me. Some guy named Tobi was already here who said he was in an organization that had an interest in the bijuu."

"Is that so?" Karui asked. "Well, I don't know why you're being so stupid about this. But Killer Bee is definitely going to want to hear more about this. So I think you're coming with me whether you like it or not."

Following through on her threat, she used some supplies she had on her to gag and tie up the boy before tossing his struggling form over her shoulder. It might be a risk, but she had a feeling this was important. She was just going to make a break for it.

******

Fortune had smiled upon her, and she'd somehow escaped Konoha without being spotted again, despite her less than enthusiastic cargo. But the trip back had been miserable. Naruto, as she'd discovered his name was, had refused to come willing, forcing her to carry him the entire way.

She would only remove his gag when it was time for meals. But now, she'd finally arrived. The guards at the entrance to Kumo had given her odd looks as she carried Naruto in, but hadn't attempted to stop her. Her first destination was the training ground that Killer Bee liked to use. Given the time of day, there was a good chance her team would be there.

Her decision turned out to be the right one, as the rest of her team was indeed there. Omoi was the first one to spot her and Naruto.

"Did you kidnap someone from Konoha?" he asked, seeing the boy's headband and quickly reaching that conclusion.

"What if that starts a war between Kumo and Konoha?" he asked worriedly. "And the boy turns out to have friends in other villages. And soon we're at war with all four of the other great powers. And our entire village is wiped out, what then?"

"Let's find out who it is she captured and why before we worry too much," Samui suggested as she and Killer Bee walked over to them.

"This," she answered, dropping her cargo unceremoniously onto the ground, "is Naruto, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. I found him rotting in a Konoha prison, and he had some interesting information. So I brought him here so you could hear it from him yourself."

So saying, she removed the gag from the boy's mouth.

"Why should I tell you anything after you dragged me here against my will?" the boy spat out.

"Because if you don't talk, I'm just going to gag you again and leave you tied up in a corner until you change your mind," she answered.

"Now, now, Naruto is it?" Omoi said placatingly. "I know that Karui can be a bit impulsive and thoughtless and uncaring and violent and cruel and ..."

"That list is more than long enough already!" Karui interrupted, punctuating her words with a fist to Omoi's gut.

"You see what I mean?" Omoi continued. "But the rest of us aren't like that. So why don't you tell us what you have to say, and we'll see about getting you home."

"Fine, I already told her what I know anyways," Naruto conceded, "I don't see why she couldn't have just told you herself."

"Shortly before Karui arrived," he began, "I was broken out of prison by someone who called himself Tobi. He said he was from an organization with an interest in the bijuu. I really don't know anything beyond that."

"I've never heard of anyone named Tobi," Killer Bee commented. "Can you describe him at all?"

"I couldn't see much of him," the boy answered. "He was wearing a weird mask and robe. But he had black hair."

"This robe wouldn't by any chance happen to have been black, with red cloud designs on it?" Killer Bee queried thoughtfully.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Naruto replied.

"Akatsuki," her sensei answered. "It's an organization shrouded in mystery that I have very little info on. But it's supposed to be made up entirely of S class ninja. They seem to be working as mercenaries for hire at the moment, but ninja of that caliber don't generally group together for something as benign as that."

"If they really are after the bijuu, I'm not sure even I would be safe from them," he admitted.

To hear such an admission from the man she considered to be an unstoppable power was very unsettling to Karui.

"Wait, you said that this Tobi broke you out of prison," Omoi pointed out. "But Karui said she found you in prison. Did you get caught again?"

"I didn't get caught, I turned myself in," the boy declared. "And if you'll let me go now that I've told you this, I'd like to head back to Konoha and do it again."

"That would be foolish," Killer Bee told him. "I don't know what reason you have for wishing to stay in prison, but Akatsuki has already proven themselves capable of getting to you in there. If you go back, you'll be all but gift wrapping yourself for them to come and take you whenever they'd like."

"I don't care what you say," the boy responded stubbornly, "I'm loyal to Konoha. If I warn them, I'm sure they'll guard me better."

"These are S class ninja," Karui told him, "Even a village as powerful as Konoha can't afford to guard you day and night with a force capable of defending you against them. Meanwhile, with those seals on you, you're as helpless as a baby if they do get past."

"Well, maybe I can convince them to remove the seals," Naruto said weakly, aware he was losing the argument.

"I have a better idea," Killer Bee announced. "Why don't you stick with me and we can train ourselves in preparation for when Akatsuki does show up. We have another jinchuuriki in this village too, and I'm sure she'd be interested in joining us. Even Akatsuki will have to think twice about the combined might of three jinchuuriki."

"I already told you, I'm loyal to Konoha," Naruto insisted. "I'm not going to defect to Kumo."

"You won't have to," Killer Bee told him. "I'm tired of listening to my brother tell me what to do anyways. We'll form our own independent group. You three are welcome to join as well."

"I'm in," Karui said quickly. "This sounds like a lot of fun."

"If you think it's for the best, I'll follow your decision," Samui answered.

"But what if after we leave, Kumo starts doing missions poorly, and gets a bad reputation, so the missions dry up, and the village goes bankrupt?" Omoi asked.

"Glad to see you're all in on this," Killer Bee declared, ignoring Omoi's response completely. "So how about it Naruto, are you in?"

"Well, I suppose it does sound a bit nicer than a prison cell," he replied. "I'm in."

"I'll see if I can go find the last member of our new team, and then we can have a party to celebrate its formation," her sensei said enthusiastically.

"That sounds great," Naruto chimed in with a big grin, "But first ... could someone please untie me already?!"

******

Naruto had been introduced to everyone, including their final member, the jinchuuriki of the Nibi, a woman by the name of Yugito Nii. Now they were gathered in a restaurant Killer Bee had reserved for them and were ready to start the party he'd suggested earlier. Or they would be if not for one fact.

"No!" Killer Bee shouted, "For the last time we can't start the party for our team's formation without having a name. It's just not right."

So saying, he got a look of intense concentration. A few seconds into his thinking he came up with something. "I've got it. Killer Bee's Amazing Group."

"That's an awful name," Naruto protested.

"You're right," he admitted. "Doesn't have much ring to it. What rhymes with Killer Bee?"

"That's not the issue," Naruto insisted.

He hoped that the rest of them were a little better at coming up with names than he was. His stomach wouldn't wait much longer, but he wasn't about to get stuck with a stupid name like that.

"Why don't we keep it simple?" Yugito advised. "We have nineteen tails between us. Why not simply Juukyu?"

"Not all of us are jinchuuriki," Karui pointed out. "A name like that makes us feel left out."

"Juukyu and friends?" Yugito said, revising her initial suggesting.

"That's even worse!" Karui yelled out.

"We formed to oppose Akatsuki," Omoi noted, "Maybe we could follow a theme. We can be Yuugure to their Akatsuki, dusk to their dawn."

"That's not half bad," Naruto said quickly.

It might not be the best name, but it was good enough to for him to put up with if it meant getting his food now.

"I can live with that," Karui agreed.

"It seems like a good idea to me," Yugito added.

"It is acceptable," concluded even Samui.

With that all head turned to Killer Bee.

"Fine," he said petulantly. "I guess I'll just have to live with the fact my team has no originality. That they're forced to take inspiration from our enemy. But don't worry about me, the person whose idea this was in the first place. My opinion doesn't really matter if you're all happy."

"Great," Naruto replied, deliberately ignoring the man's tone and pretending to take the words at face value. "Let's eat!"

"I'm right behind you kid," Karui said eagerly as the two of them quickly made their way to the buffet that had been set out. The rest of the team followed behind at a more dignified pace, leaving Killer Bee standing by himself.

Killer Bee stood their stubbornly for a few seconds before realizing that everyone was ignoring him. Apparently deciding he didn't want to stand there all night, he hurried over to the buffet himself.

"I am the leader though, right?" he called out.

******

"I want you to train me," Hinata announced to Anko.

"Huh, doesn't your family already train you?" she asked.

"Yes, but not all the time," Hinata answered. "And only in the clan skills. I'd like be a little more well-rounded."

"It's unusual for a Hyuuga to admit that your style isn't perfect already," Anko noted.

"Yes, but I do admit it, and I'm asking for your help."

"Well, I can't blame you for wanting me as a teacher so badly, but I don't feel like helping you," Anko told her.

Why did her sensei have to act so childishly? But she hadn't expected this to be easy. Anko liked to be troublesome, just to be troublesome. And the devious grin on her face right now showed she was just seeing how to get the most entertainment out of this whole situation.

"You are still my jounin sensei," Hinata argued. "Aren't you required to train me?"

"Look," and said, grinning wickedly, "I know you're upset about your little boyfriend betraying you and then running off, but I don't think any amount of training is going to make you a match for him."

Unable to help herself, Hinata let out a squeak of surprise at the statement and blushed red. She was more observant than Hinata had given her credit for, but to imply that he was her boyfriend? Hinata knew she was just trying to get under her skin, but that was going too far.

She may have been fooled by his lies, but she hadn't gone so far as to fall for that treacherous scum. Her face remained red, but now due to the anger that her former embarrassment had transformed into.

"I have my own plans to deal with that, you just need to train me," Hinata snapped.

It was time for her trump card, this might backfire but she was upset enough with Anko right now that she was willing to risk it. So she reigned herself in a little and continued.

"It was nice of Jiraiya not tell anyone you actually fought on the Uchiha's side," Hinata said in mock sweetness. "I heard about it from Tsunade. I know your reasons, and don't really care myself, but it'd be a shame if people who were less forgiving than me found out about it."

"You're trying to blackmail me?" Anko asked incredulously then let out a laugh. "There may be hope for you yet. I should just kill you, but you've caught me in a good mood. So I'll humor you for now."

"Thank you," Hinata said happily.

"Don't thank me yet," Anko warned her. "I'm only doing this because it's too nice a day to dispose of a body, and because my training is a far worse punishment than death. So see you tomorrow morning, at 4 ... no make that 3 AM."

Hinata wondered if she should have requested a team transfer instead of going through with this.

******

"Nope, nothing I can do," Killer Bee said after examining the seal that cut him off from the Kyuubi's chakra.

The seal that blocked off his own chakra had been removed already, being much simpler in nature. But no one in Yuugure was exactly a seal master.

"So what I'm I supposed to do then?" Naruto asked.

"Train your own skills," the man replied. "I can tell just by looking at you they didn't bother to do much of that."

"But wouldn't I be better off if I continue training to control Kyuubi's power?" Naruto asked.

"The stronger you are without his help, the stronger you'll become with it," he replied. "Training yourself is never wasted time. And I'll figure out what to do with that seal eventually."

"OK," Naruto agreed, figuring he knew what he was talking about. "So what do I do first?"

******

"A letter arrived for you," Shisui told Sasuke when he'd arrived for his daily training session.

Curious, Sasuke took it from Shisui and started reading it. He was surprised to see that it was from Naruto. Apparently he'd escaped from prison again but decided to stay out this time. Something about preparing to fight Akatsuki, which he explained was the organization Tobi was from. He promised that as soon as they were taken care of he'd come visit them.

"Do we know where this came from?" Sasuke asked.

"No clue," Shisui replied. "The Mizukage passed it on to me but refused to tell me anything else about it."

"Well, mom will be glad to know he's out of prison," he said happily. "But she probably doesn't need to hear about the fighting Akatsuki part."

Sasuke wished that he could send a reply to Naruto, as he would be a lot of help in trying to rescue Itachi if they could ever locate Orochimaru. But whatever he was doing, it had changed his mind about staying in Konoha, so it had to be important too. Sasuke would just have to deal with this himself and wish good fortune on his brother as well.

******

After a few months of training, it had becomes a trial of will each morning to show up to training with Anko. It was everything the woman had promised and more. If nothing else she was becoming desensitized to pain.

Nearing the training ground, she activated her Byakugan and began looking carefully for any traps or surprise assaults. She had learned early on that she needed constant vigilance in that regard.

But oddly enough, today Anko was just standing there holding a large scroll of some sort. She couldn't see any traps set up around the woman either.

"Today we're doing something a little different," Anko announced to her as she came closer. "I think you're ready to sign a contract with the snakes."

Hinata was surprised. She'd certainly wanted this, but didn't expect Anko to offer it up to her so easily. Hoping it wasn't a ploy, she took the scroll from the woman and looked it over carefully, Byakugan still active. It appeared to be legitimate.

Quickly, in case Anko changed her mind, she cut her thumb and signed her name in blood right after Anko's own name.

"Good, now we're going to practice summoning until you pass out," Anko told her in her usual tone that somehow managed to sound very cheerful and promise pain at the same time.

******

"I'm impressed you learned that raiton jutsu so quickly considering you're a wind type," Yugito told him, "I almost wonder if you don't have a secondary affinity for lightning. Either way, you'll develop one if you keep up your training."

"Thanks," Naruto replied, happy with the praise. "Now what are you going to teach me next?"

******

"You need to be more subtle," Shisui told Sasuke, "If they don't realize they're being manipulated, you can trap even opponents who are much more powerful than yourself."

Sasuke actually preferred it when their training focused on other areas, but Genjutsu was Shisui's area of expertise, so it was a common focus for them. Still, he was a very good teacher on the subject, and Sasuke would use any help he could get.

******

It had been almost a year since Kakashi had become the Rokudaime Hokage. And it was a little longer than that since the last time she'd fought Neji. She'd specially requested to do so today.

She was confident she could take him if she used all her skills, but she was still hiding from her family the fact that she'd been doing extra training with Anko. So she had limited herself to using the Gentle Fist.

The fight had been going on for some time already. Somehow, Neji had learned the Kaiten. Hinata knew it as well, and it was difficult to end a fight when both of them had use of such a formidable defense.

She still hadn't managed to surpass Neji in skill at the Gentle Fist. He'd come very far himself in this past year. But this time, she didn't think she was any slower then him. As far as she could tell, their skills were evenly matched.

But she did have one advantage. Anko had frequently pushed her to her very limits, and that work was paying off. As the fight went on, Neji seemed to be tiring faster than her. It was really starting to show now, even slowing his speed a bit.

Taking advantage of that, she managed to slip an open palm blow past him, but as had been done through the fight by both of them, before the blow could land, he began another Kaiten, going into his spin.

But this time, instead of jumping back, she decided to bring it to an end. She began her own spin, such that their chakra would be moving in opposite directions where they collided. She felt a huge strain as they did, but pressed on, and sure enough, Neji broke first.

Without the defense of his spin, he found himself within the range of Hinata's own Kaiten and was flung into the wall of the training room. He remained conscious, but seemed to have no intentions of getting up to continue the fight.

"That was great, nee-san," Hanabi called out from where she had been watching on the side. "You have to teach me to fight like that."

She'd finally gotten used to seeing Hanabi's face all but scar free. Tsunade had been true to her word and had further treated the girl at the hospital. Now you had to look closely to see any signs of her old wounds, and what was left could easily be covered with makeup. Tsunade had long since departed the village again and disappeared to unknown parts.

But this fight hadn't been about Hanabi. She approached the beaten Neji who continued to glare at her.

"Come to gloat?" he asked her bitterly.

"No," Hinata told him, "I just wanted you as a captive audience. I know you hate the main family, but I just want you to know that I agree with you on the matter of the cursed seal. I may not be able to do anything about it now, but I will take over as head of the clan some day. When I do, I promise you I'll do away with the seal."

And unlike some people, Hinata would keep her promises. Turning away, she left Neji. She didn't know if he'd believe her, but she felt better having told him that.

******

"Naruto, come over here," Killer Bee ordered him.

Wondering what he could want, Naruto complied. They'd been living pretty nomadically for the last year, wandering around while they trained, and camping wherever they stopped. They also tended to avoid civilization.

This was supposedly because, while the Raikage had refrained from naming any of them missing-nin, he was not at all happy with Killer Bee. So the members of Yuugure were doing their best to stay out of sight.

"I've got something I want to try with your seal," he declared.

"You've figured out how to remove it?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Maybe," he answered in a manner that didn't exactly inspire confidence. "Just hold still and I'll find out."

It was against his better judgment, but he did as he was told. He felt the man begin to call upon the Hachibi's chakra, but held himself back from an actual transformation. Putting his hand on the seal, Killer Bee began to force some of that Chakra into Naruto.

From within him, the Kyuubi raged at the intrusion, pushing back in greater fury than he'd ever felt from the demon. But his chakra was held back by the seal Orochimaru had place on him.

Still, it threw itself against the barrier with all its might. The seal began to glow brighter than he'd ever seen it do before. Then, in an instant, it gave way, and shock to his system from the backlash, combined with the sudden influx of demonic chakra was too much for him, robbing him of his consciousness.

When he came to, the sun had set. Last he remembered it had been around noon.

"See, I told you he'd be fine," Killer Bee announced upon seeing him open his eyes. "My plan was a huge success."

"Yeah, if you ignore the fact that you almost killed him," Yugito said angrily.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked after she finished berating Killer Bee.

"I think so," Naruto replied. He felt a bit tired, but nothing really hurt.

"Well, if this idiot gets any more bright ideas, I want you to let me know about it right away," she told him kindly.

"You just don't appreciate my brilliance," Killer Bee insisted.

******

It had turned out that Sasuke had not been immune the Mizukage's plans. For the last year, he had found a number of young kunoichi who seemed to like spending time around him. Luckily for him, he had found a use for them.

They were easy enough to manipulate into showing off their training. Something Sasuke was able to watch with his Sharingan activated. He'd picked up a good number of new techniques that way.

******

Hinata waited patiently from the woods at the side of the road, her Byakugan active. Konoha had received a tip that one of the missing-nin Uchiha would be visiting a nearby town sometime today, so she was watching the road for his arrival.

The Hokage had been reluctant to let her go on this mission. She disapproved of how he had already let most of the captured Uchiha return to their homes under probation. But he needn't worry about her disobeying his order that those who had run be brought back alive if possible. She had no leads regarding Naruto, but he would most likely run back to his Uchiha masters. So she needed them alive if they were going to talk.

Eventually he had relented and given her the mission. But Hinata got the impression that he only approved her going because he knew that she would have gone whether he had or not.

Another traveler was passing by the road and she examined him as he came into view. While there had been a number so far, all had been ordinary civilians. This one, however, had a glow of chakra around his entire boy, just like the effect produced by a Henge.

Leaping out from the woods, she attempted an ambush but had her blow dodged.

"Drop the Henge and come with me peacefully," she ordered.

He actually did drop his Henge, confirming he was an Uchiha, although not one she recognized. On the matter of giving up, however, he was much less cooperative.

"Please, just let me go on my way, I mean you no harm," he told her.

But Hinata was the wrong person to try to talk out of this. Attacking again, she found him to be a very competent member of his clan. He was certainly fast at least.

"We Uchiha bear Konoha no ill will," he insisted. "Just leave us be and we'll do the same for you."

Continuing with her assault, he jumped back from another open palm strike, obviously familiar with the dangers of the Gentle Fist. However, he wasn't anticipating the snakes that shot out of the sleeve of her extended arm. They bit into the surprised man, and she pulled her arm back in, causing the snakes to go taut and drag him back into range. With a follow-up chakra infused blow to his chest, the man was out cold.

Lifting him over her shoulder, she set off back for Konoha.

******

"That's enough, I give up," Karui said, panting from the exhaustion of their recent spar. "It's hard to believe that less than two years ago you were a helpless brat."

Naruto was glad he'd continued training himself even after Orochimaru's seal had been broken. Victory like this was all the sweeter. And Killer Bee had been right. His training did help even when he was using the Kyuubi's chakra.

"I'm just that good," Naruto said proudly.

"I don't want to give you a bigger ego than you already have," she told him, "but you really are. I've never even heard of any Uzumakis. Where'd you get all that talent from anyway?"

"Oh, probably my father. He was the Yondaime Hokage," he deliberately said it in as offhand a manner as he could manage, and was not at all disappointed by the reaction he get.

"What?! Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, the Rokudaime Hokage told me himself," he replied cheerfully.

His announcement had drawn the attention of the rest of Yuugure, who had stopped whatever training they had been doing and gathered around him.

"This is certainly a shock," Yugito declared.

"That was quite a secret you were keeping from us," Killer Bee added.

"I had no idea," Samui informed him.

"Actually, I kind of figured that was the case," Omoi admitted, "The resemblance is there, and it would make sense that the Yondaime would seal the Kyuubi in his own son."

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Karui asked accusingly.

"I was afraid that Naruto would get mad at me if I did, and the team would break up, and Akatsuki would defeat us one by one, and then they would take over the world," he answered.

"Well, I'm fired up now!" Killer Bee declared enthusiastically. "You're going to fight me next, Naruto. You've got to be tough if you're his son, so I won't need to hold back."

Maybe he should have kept this secret a little longer.

******

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but we've had three of our clan members captured after going on reconnaissance missions," Shisui told him. "The Mizukage requires that we get approval before leaving the village, and it seems that Konoha must have a spy placed who's reporting all our planned trips. I'm going to have to cancel any further missions."

"Then how are we supposed to find any leads on Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked in frustration. Both of them had still avoided actually discussing the likelihood that he would still be alive after more than two and a half years of captivity.

"I'll talk with the Mizukage and see what can be done," Shisui assured him, "but I can't afford to risk anyone else until this is taken care of."

Shisui and he had been training hard for so long, so it was frustrating they hadn't had a single lead on their target in all this time. And the Mizukage seemed to be deliberately impeding their investigation. She probably thought that any rescue attempt would just be a suicide mission.

But they'd find something sooner or later, and as soon as they had a solid lead, they'd strike.

******

Hinata found it amusing how Anko had been refusing to spar with her for almost a year now. She still trained her, but they never actually fought. Anko would never admit it, but Hinata was certain it was because she was no longer confident she would win any such encounter, and wasn't about to have a loss to her own student.

Hinata was a Jounin herself now, and was confident she had the skills to carry out her plan to defeat Naruto. That is if she could just figure out where he was. None of the three captured Uchiha had been willing to say anything regarding him. None of them had been tortured, so they could just be refusing to cooperate, but she was beginning to wonder if they were telling the truth.

Still, she had nothing else to go on, so she'd keep pursuing things in her current manner. But as soon as she found out where Naruto was, she'd finally be able to keep her promise to him. She swore she'd kill him if he lied to her, and she would keep her word.

******

It was a pain how shadowy a group Akatsuki was. They hadn't made any moves yet, and were near impossible to be found if they didn't want to be. But they'd all been training hard these past years and had all improved considerably.

The day would inevitably come when Akatsuki and Yuugure would clash. And when they did, Akatsuki might find they'd bitten off more than they could chew.

******

**AN**

One again, I have broken the record for my longest chapter. I enjoyed writing this one a lot and almost couldn't stop writing it. In other news, I'd like to thank vexatively for graciously offering to beta this. I do proofread, but nothing like pages full of missed errors to show how much I could still improve in that area.

I hope I handled the aftermath in an enjoyable manner. At the very least I did it in a way no one will have predicted. And for that guy, you know, the one who now feels compelled to post a review and claim he predicted every facet of this chapter, you're a liar. :P

But thoughts, criticism, and comments are encouraged. So review away.


	9. Chapter 9

"I believe Akatsuki is preparing to make its move," Killer Bee announced to the assembled members of Yuugure.

They were currently all gathered in a small inn they'd rented in a town that marked their most recent foray into civilization. Well, everyone except for Omoi. He'd already retired for the night, claiming he hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. He was worried that if he didn't catch up, his mind could snap leading him to murder them all in their sleep.

Seeing he had their full attention Bee continued. "My reports indicate that they haven't been accepting any job offers recently. I can only assume that means they're moving on to the next phase of their plan."

"Do we know who their target will be?" Karui asked.

"Yes," Bee answered confidently. "They will be aiming for Gaara, the current Kazekage."

That wasn't the answer Naruto had wanted to hear. He and Gaara hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms.

"That certainly makes him easy to locate," Karui replied. "But how reliable is this information's source?"

"What source?" Bee queried. "He's the Ichibi. It only makes sense they would start from one and work their way up."

"What if they go for more than one target at a time?" Naruto asked, still hoping to get out of a trip to Suna if he could avoid it. "Maybe we should split up and guard more than one of them."

"That would go against the purpose of us forming a group in the first place," Samui chided him. "Akatsuki is not to be underestimated, and weakening our group will only make us more vulnerable should we run into a group of them."

"Besides, they're going to for Gaara first, I guarantee it," Bee declared. "So let's move out. Suna awaits us."

As they watched Bee depart Naruto turned to Yugito questioningly. "And that's it? We're going just with that?"

"He's just like that," she answered. "He's impulsive and rarely thinks his actions through. But things seem to have a way of working out for him, so we've sort of just gotten used to accepting it. You'd go insane otherwise. I would have expected you to have figured that out by now."

"Don't get me wrong," Naruto replied, "I think it's great. It sure beats standing around discussing things all day. We need more people like him if you ask me."

Deciding to move into action himself, he got up and hurried off after Bee.

"Wait!" Yugito called from behind him, "Forget what I said. Killer Bee is not someone you should want to emulate."

Naruto smirked to himself at her antics but continued on as if he hadn't heard her.

"Don't ruin your life!" she yelled at his back.

******

Sasuke made his way toward the room he trained with Shisui in as part of his daily ritual. But when he arrived, he found the room empty. That was unusual, as Shisui was almost always the first one to show up. Still, it wasn't like this was the first time it had happened. So Sasuke sat down to wait. Shisui would probably only be a minute or two.

It irked him, when he took the time to reflect on it, how easily he'd fallen into a routine. It caused him no small amount of guilt that at times he would almost feel comfortable just living with his mother and training daily. Meanwhile, Orochimaru was doing who knows what to Itachi, if he was even still alive. No, he couldn't allow himself to think like that. Itachi _was_ still alive.

He was also frustrated that he still hadn't been able to get in contact with Naruto. He deserved to know about Itachi, but he couldn't find out anything about his location. He suspected the Mizukage was doing her best to make sure it stayed that way. She wanted to make the Uchiha as happy as possible living in Kiri. And anything that might make them desire to leave shouldn't pass within the walls of the village.

Sasuke realized a few minutes had passed while he'd been lost in thought and there was still no sign of Shisui. Beginning to wonder what was going on with his usually punctual clan member, Sasuke decided to look for him.

But where would Shisui be? Sasuke supposed the most likely place would be his room. The refugees from the Uchiha Clan had been given a large apartment complex for their use. To be honest, it was larger then they really needed, and was in reasonably good condition. Once again, anything to make them more comfortable.

Arriving at his destination, he found the door open. Shisui was inside, packing various supplies as if preparing for a mission.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked. "Why didn't you show up for training?"

"We're not training today," he answered. "I sent a messenger, but he must not have found you. I finally managed to get a piece of intel.

"You mean about Itachi?" Sasuke asked feeling a surge of adrenaline just at the news.

"Possibly," Shisui replied. "I found the location of one of Orochimaru's bases. I have no idea if Itachi is there or not, but with the forces of Kiri doing their best to stonewall our investigation, we can't afford to pass up this opportunity."

"How many people are we taking?" Sasuke queried, barely able to contain his excitement at finally getting to do something.

"Just the two of us," Shisui responded firmly, in a tone that brooked no argument. "This is an infiltration mission. Find Itachi if he's there, find out where he is if he's not. We're going to avoid combat if at all possible. Fighting Orochimaru on his own turf, surrounded by his men, would be suicide, even if we brought every Clan Member here."

Sasuke wanted to argue. They'd been training for this for years. They could take a past his prime traitor. Regardless, Sasuke wasn't about to let the man get away unpunished.

"I'm serious," Shisui told him sternly, as if reading his thoughts. "And don't worry; Orochimaru will get what's coming to him. But I think we should give Itachi a chance to pay his own respect for the hospitality he's been given."

"Alright," Sasuke conceded, "But let's not waste any more time."

"Good," Shisui said cheerfully. "I believe I've packed enough for the both of us. Let's get going before the Mizukage gets wind of this and comes up with some excuse why we have to stay."

******

Hinata was running through the forests outside of Konoha, finally looking forward to an assignment again. It had been some time since their spy in Kiri had informed them of any Uchiha leaving the village. She'd been beginning to wonder if he'd been compromised. And if his report was accurate, she couldn't hope for a better target. Sasuke himself was making this venture.

Thinking of her old teammate brought up a torrent of memories, few of them pleasant. Now if only she knew what was going on. If her partner in this mission deciding to join her hadn't made her suspicious already, the fact that Anko hadn't spoken a word since they'd left would have more than done so.

Not that she wasn't grateful to have her teacher along. She was confident she could take Sasuke without difficulty, but the report stated that Uchiha Shisui was with him, and that man was dangerous. But it was time to find out just what Anko knew.

Jumping in front of her teacher, Hinata came to a halt to confront her.

"So what made you decide to join me on this outing?" Hinata asked her pointedly. "You've never helped me in the past."

"Would you believe I was worried this one might be too much for you?" Anko quipped as she maneuvered around Hinata and continued toward their destination.

Hinata was not in the mood for Anko's games and quickly turned around and followed after her teacher.

"I'm serious," Hinata replied crossly.

"Well, what if I told you I wanted the opportunity to see my wayward student again, and make sure you two didn't kill each other?" Anko offered, at least making an attempt to sound like she meant it that time.

But Hinata just glared at her in response.

"Fine," Anko replied, "If you must know, I couldn't care less about your little teen drama of love and betrayal. I'm not here for you or Sasuke. I'm here because I know where Sasuke is going, seeing as I ran across the same piece of information they must have."

Hinata decided to ignore the jab for the moment now that she was finally getting somewhere.

"And just where is it that they're going?" Hinata inquired.

"Right to one of Orochimaru's secret labs," Anko answered, her face taking on that insane grin that always made her shudder when she was younger.

That threw Hinata for a mental loop. They were planning to march right into the lair of one the greatest villains in Konoha's history? That was madness.

"You aren't going to chicken out, are you?" Anko mocked.

Hinata realized she hadn't been doing a very good job of masking her emotions. And as much as she knew Anko was just baiting her, the words still had an effect. Hinata couldn't back out now. She'd probably never have an opportunity like this again. She was going to see this through.

******

Their group was nearly to Sunagakure, and Naruto would be glad to finally be there. The terrain had long since turned to desert, and by this point, Naruto was sick of sand.

"So what's been bothering you, Naruto?" Yugito asked.

"Nothing," Naruto lied. "I'm fine."

"You've practically been moping this entire trip," Yugito informed him. "There has to be something reason behind it."

Naruto sighed. He supposed there wasn't much reason to hide it.

"It's just our current target, the Kazekage," he began, "The last time I was here was when Konoha invaded Suna. I kind of rampaged through the village, and then continued on to beat up Gaara. I'm kind of worried he might not react well to seeing me."

"That's not good," Omoi interjected, having overheard their conversation. "If we're seen with you, the Kazekage could take it as a sign that Kumo is working with you. We could start a war between Suna and our village."

That couldn't really happen? Could it? Naruto couldn't help but become even more nervous at the notion despite who is was coming from.

"You're not helping," Karui exclaimed angrily.

Then she turned to Naruto but he didn't catch whatever she said, as something else had just grabbed his attention.

"That's the Ichibi's power," Killer Bee declared, having sensed the same thing Naruto had. "And a lot of it. The fight must have already started. Everyone move out full speed."

Picking up the pace, Naruto could feel the energy of the other bijuu off in the distance, raging against something.

"Naruto, Yugito, transform and head there as quickly as possible," Bee ordered. "Everyone else catch up as soon as you can, we can't afford to waste any time."

As the three jinchuuriki began to draw on the power of their demonic captives, their speed increased and they quickly left behind the rest of the group. Naruto only hoped they were fast enough.

******

Sasori stood watching Deidara's battle with the young Kazekage. The boy was putting up a better fight than expected, but he still had no doubts his partner would emerge the victor. His thoughts were interrupted when he sensed what felt like a tsunami of malevolence approaching that far dwarfed anything being emitted by the boy in front of him. This could be bad. He hadn't thought anything other than an unbound bijuu could give off a presence like that, and all of them should be sealed in jinchuuriki.

As the approaching force crested a dune, his questions were answered. It was three jinchuuriki. Two of them had manifested five tails, and the third, appeared to be completely covered in a blue chakra shaped like a giant cat. They must be that group he'd heard about. The Nibi, the Hachibi, and the Kyuubi himself.

"Deidara!" he yelled to his partner. "Let's get out of here. I have no intention of fighting four jinchuuriki at once."

"But think of the respect we'll get when we bring all of them back with us," he countered.

Sasori wanted none of this foolishness, but it didn't look like he had much choice. They were closing the distance at an incredible speed, and Sasori doubted he'd be able to run from them.

"This isn't a fight you can hold back in," he advised Deidara.

He wasn't about ignore his own suggestion, and used what little time he had left to reinforce the traps he'd already been surreptitiously setting around himself as a standard precaution. But they were quickly upon him, and for whatever reason, all three of them chose him as their target. He held back nothing, setting off poison gasses, kunai, needles and every deadly contraption he could against them, but they made quite the unstoppable force, mowing through and shredding his puppet armor.

But he had been prepared for that. He knew Hiruko would be too slow to fight them properly. Its only purpose in this fight had been the hope he'd inflict some damage during their first assault. He was already rolling away from the wreckage and pulling out a scroll to summon his most powerful puppet. With a satisfying puff of smoke, it appeared beside him and he took a moment to survey his opponents.

The Hachibi, and the young Kyuubi host appeared to have suffered no ill effects other than torn clothes, but the poison seemed to be having an effect on the final jinchuuriki, whose blue chakra was fading, allowing him to see the woman underneath it.

"There were some pretty strong poisons in those attacks," The female jinchuuriki announced. "I should be fine for now, but I'm not sure how much more I can take. I know Naruto probably didn't even notice, but how are you doing Bee?"

"As if a little poison could stop the great Killer Bee," he replied arrogantly. "But maybe it'd be best if you helped out the Kazekage with his opponent, Yugito."

Well, now he had their names for all that was worth. It seemed small comfort in the face of the fact that he had two opponents who seemed to be immune to his poisons and a third who was highly resistant. For someone who depended so heavily on them, the thought was more than a little unpleasant.

"That's the Sandaime Kazekage," the boy who had inherited the Kazekage title himself gasped, having noticed his recently summoned puppet.

"Yes," Sasori replied, happy to show off his creation, "and he makes a very fine puppet."

"That's all well and good," Deidara yelled out, "but now that I've got an audience, I'll show you what real art is."

He always felt the need to be the center of attention. That was fine with Sasori, he wouldn't mind if these opponents focused on his partner and ignored him.

But Naruto and Killer Bee decided to return their attention to him. He was grateful for his puppet's ability to control magnetic forces right now, as he was barely able to form a barrier, with the metal filings he'd already spread, in time to protect him from the assault. Moments later explosions resounded just outside his barrier knocking the two jinchuuriki away.

"That was insane!" Naruto yelled out. "What were those things?"

"Ah so you like my art?" Deidara answered proudly. "I'll be happy to show you some of my other works."

His showing off his art would have to wait, as he had to dodge a barrage of kunai from behind him.

"Sorry, I consider myself something of an art critic, and I can't say I think much of yours," called out a new voice. Three new figures had entered the fray. Two were female and one was male; and he doubted any of them were on his side. Just what he needed.

"His explosive clay is earth based," the Kazekage announced. "If you know any lighting jutsu that would counter them, I suggest you try them."

"Do we know any lightning jutsu?" Killer Bee asked mockingly. "We'll show you lightning jutsu."

The air was soon filled with such jutsu, which were sure to be causing Deidara headaches. But he had little time to spare on concern for anyone but himself. He was doing everything he could just to fend off the Kyuubi brat. Between his iron sand, and using his puppet more directly as a distraction, he was avoiding taking damage so far, but wasn't doing any of his own either. And no matter how much poison he threw at the child, it didn't even faze him.

At least the boy was his only assailant other than the occasional blast of lightning that flew his way. Killer Bee was devoting most of his attention to shooting down Deidara's 'art.' And his iron sand was proving highly effective at absorbing the charged attacks before they reached him.

A particularly large explosion drew his attention, especially as there had been so few of them since the electricity started flying. Sparing a glance, he saw that Deidara had set one off very near himself, most likely to hide in the explosion. A couple clay birds flew out from the smoke but were quickly dispatched.

When the smoke cleared, he saw his partner still standing there with two of more recently arrived trio charging in, swords drawn. Sasori smirked to himself as he realized they'd fallen for his trap.

"Karui, Omoi, get back!" Yugito yelled, and to their credit they reversed direction without hesitating but not quick enough as Deidara's clone was already beginning to explode. At the last moment, Yugito threw herself in front of the two to shield them and all three were hit by the blast.

"No!" the blond boy in front of him yelled out in disbelief.

Sasori used the boy's distraction to begin maneuvering himself and his puppet for an attack. He noticed that Yugito was struggling to get up from the blast, while the two she had been guarding were out cold. These jinchuuriki were nothing if not resilient.

He was impressed with his partner for taking out three of them while being the primary focus of their opponents' attention. Then he felt his left leg catch on something and saw a rope of sand wrapped around it. The rope rose up from the desert leading all the way back to Gaara.

At some point he had moved next to Killer Bee as well. It seemed he'd decided he'd rather have Sasori as his opponent. Fighting the boy in a desert was certainly not ideal, but if he thought that losing a leg would be much of a handicap to Sasori he was mistaken.

"Fire!" Gaara ordered, and the Hachibi jinchuuriki obliged, aiming at their end of the sand rope.

What were they thinking? Were they honestly stupid enough to believe that sand would conduct electricity? It was then that Sasori noticed the sand around his leg falling away to reveal metal underneath. In an instant he grasped what had happened. Gaara had subtly been gathering Sasori's own metal with his sand and forced it into a sort of wire. He had no time to react to this realization before the electricity shot through his body.

When it subsided he tried to move, but realized that many of the metal parts in his puppet body had fused as a result of the attack. Thankfully his heart was still functioning. That was when the second blast hit him and it ceased to do so.

*******

Naruto cheered inwardly when he saw the annoying puppet guy fall. Now to focus his attention on the jerk with the bombs.

"It doesn't seem I'll be able to defeat all of you myself," his target announced. "But I can certainly take you with me."

But he was interrupted by small blade surrounded by electricity passing through his chest, piercing a lung.

"As if we'd let you," Bee said smugly.

But the man seemed determined to continue despite his wound, moving to remove his cloak. He was again interrupted as sand reached up from the ground beneath him wrapping around his arms and preventing him from taking further action.

"No! Stop! I beg you!" the man cried out. "Forget about killing you. I'll let you all move to a safe distance. But I can't die without displaying my greatest work of art. I have to finish it!"

In response to his pleas, Samui took the opportunity to remove his head from his shoulders, ending further negotiations.

******

The members of Yuugure were gathered at very nice inn that the Kazekage had graciously offered to let them stay in. Thankfully, none of them had been seriously injured. Even Karui and Omoi had suffered no worse than some burns, bruises, and a concussion between them. The Kazekage was now being treated to a lively discussion within their group on the merits of their recent battle.

"I still call this a great victory," Naruto insisted.

"Exactly," Bee added in support. "We've killed two of Akatsuki's members, stopped them from capturing a jinchuuriki and none of us were even permanently injured. I told you heading for the Ichibi was the best plan."

"I still find the whole fight worrying," Omoi countered. "We outnumbered them seven to two, and our abilities proved well suited to our opponents. Despite this, we sustained injuries severe enough to remove three of us from the fight, and it was close to being much worse. Furthermore, it seems unlikely they would send their strongest members to deal with the weakest of the bijuu. What happens if we go against stronger enemies, in greater number, with abilities that are more difficult for us to deal with. And this time we'll be without the help of the Kazekage? We'll probably all die."

"Well, we didn't exactly go all out either," Naruto argued stubbornly."

"Speaking of the Kazekage," Karui interjected, "are you sure you don't want to join us? They're only going to come after you again and you're not the only jinchuuriki we have to worry about. So we don't intend to stay here."

"I'm afraid I have responsibilities that prevent me from joining you," Gaara replied coolly. "I will, however, be requesting the other Kages meet to discuss joining forces against the threat of Akatsuki. Now as much as I've enjoyed your company, I do have other duties to attend to."

However, rather than leaving he turned to address Naruto. "I do have something I would like to say to you before I go, Naruto."

Naruto tensed, preparing himself for the worst.

"I would like to thank you for letting me and my siblings go when last we met," Gaara announced to Naruto's amazement. "At the time, I couldn't understand why anyone would do that, much less someone who was like myself. I believe it was that action that forced me to reexamine my whole view on life. Because of that I've changed for that better. I won't forget that."

"Well, that certainly went better than I'd expected," Naruto admitted after Gaara had departed.

******

Having arrived at the base, Sasuke and Shisui had scouted the perimeter. It wasn't a very large complex. It had one story and looked to be nothing more than a moderately sized warehouse. They suspected there was more to the building underground. Each entrance had a pair of guards, dressed in ragtag outfits as if they were ordinary mercenaries. If someone had just happened upon this place they probably would have assumed it nothing more than a hideout for some crime ring, hidden in the middle of a forest.

But they knew better, and when watching these guards carefully, it was clear that they were too well trained to be anything but ninja. Shisui signaled Sasuke which entrance he wanted to use and the two of them moved towards it while remaining behind the tree line and out of sight. Sasuke saw Shisui begin one of his subtlest Genjutsu. It would simply relax the guards and dull their reactions.

When it had taken effect, Sasuke quickly shot out two kunai, each of which found its way into the throat of one of the guards. Not wasting any time, the two of them moved swiftly through the clearing and entered the now unguarded door. Inside they found a hallway that quickly descended underground. Moving stealthily, they followed the hallway. It continued its descent as it twisted and turned, but as of yet, was nothing but featureless wall. No doors or branching passageways.

As they approached another turn, Shisui motioned for him to stop. Sasuke immediately complied, straining his senses to try to ascertain what Shisui was worried about.

"Do come out," a voice called from around the corner. "I'm eager to see just who we caught this time. I was beginning to worry no one would show up."

Of course they made no move to do so, instead preparing for whatever might come around the corner.

"I wouldn't recommend staying there," the same voice added. "It won't be a very pleasant position in a few seconds."

Sasuke quickly examined the area around him in response to the threat and his eyes glanced upon a very disturbing sight. A number of explosive tags had been hidden in the shadowy corners of the wall behind him, and they were now glowing slightly, indicating they were about to activate.

Shisui saw the same thing, and the two of them sprinted around the corner, ignoring the risk in face of the more immediate danger. A large explosion went of behind them and Sasuke could feel the heat from the blast. He doubted there was anything left of the hallway they'd passed through.

Looking at the room they were now in, he found it opened up into a roughly square shaped room with sides of about fifty feet. The room itself was dimly lit, grey and unfurnished. In the center of it stood Orochimaru himself, surrounded by about a dozen Oto-nin, and oddly enough, a red haired woman in glasses carrying a clipboard. Was she some type of secretary?

"So, this whole thing was a trap?" Shisui asked.

"Yes," Orochimaru answered, "but don't feel too proud of yourselves. I wouldn't have wasted all this effort on you. I have many enemies, so I find it beneficial to occasionally let word spread of where I am, and then wait and see who shows up to kill me. Although I was hoping for someone a little more exciting than a couple second rate Uchiha. I have no more need for your clan since I got my hands on Itachi."

In a rage Sasuke moved to leap at the man, but almost as soon as the thought struck him, Shisui put a restraining hand on his shoulder. Sasuke brought his emotions back under control, thankful for the intervention. As dangerous as this situation was, he couldn't say he was entirely disappointed it turned out this way. But this was not a fight he could afford to lose control of himself in.

But neither could they afford to let Orochimaru make the first move. With a coordination that came from years of training for this moment, the two of them activated their Sharingan and jointly crafted a complex Genjutsu without apparently moving. The entire group of enemies leapt into action, but rather than moving towards the two Uchiha, they began attacking each other. Sasuke was relieved to see even Orochimaru was taken in, slaughtering his own men.

Each of them would be seeing Sasuke and Shisui charge in to engage in close combat. But it would really be their own companions they fought when they attempted to engage the illusionary duo. Sasuke realized the unknown woman was obviously not a mere secretary, as she was more than holding her own against her opponents.

Hoping to make use of the confusion to end this, Sasuke moved towards Orochimaru while Shisui approached the woman, obviously deciding she was enough of a threat for them to eliminate her personally. Each of them moved behind their target and attacked simultaneously with kunai. But Orochimaru leapt forward, lightning fast, easily avoiding Sasuke's weapon and grabbing Shisui's arm before his attack could connect. Lifting the older Uchiha he tossed him casually towards a wall. Shisui righted himself in the air, landed against it feet first, and bounced easily to the ground.

"I'm sorry but she's too valuable to let you just kill," Orochimaru told him in almost a friendly manner.

"Snap out of it Karin," he then ordered the girl, who seemed to come to her senses.

"It really was quite an impressive Genjutsu however," Orochimaru offered graciously. "I must applaud you for it."

If only the Genjutsu had lasted a few moments longer they could have put an end to the snake. How had he broken free to begin with? Sasuke suddenly had a realization that turned his blood cold.

"The Genjutsu never worked on you in the first place, did it?" Sasuke asked accusingly.

"In that, you would be correct," he answered smugly. "But it really was an ingenious little trick, and I thought it would be rude not to play along."

He'd kill his own men simply for his personal amusement? That spoke not only of how vile the man truly was but how confident he was he would win this fight. This worried Sasuke more than he would care to admit. But maybe it was simple overconfidence. It was a common flaw in powerful ninja that could be used against them.

"Speaking of rudeness," the snake Sannin continued, "You barge in here and attack me, trying to find poor young Itachi, when all you had to do was ask."

"If you've killed him, we'll make sure you'll regret it!" Shisui shouted at him, apparently having more than a little trouble controlling his own emotions as well.

And Sasuke didn't like the line of reasoning Shisui must be following. If Orochimaru was going to show them Itachi, it would probably be just to taunt them with a corpse.

"You wound me," Orochimaru told them, "He's very much alive and well. I'll show him to you right now."

Despite knowing the man was most likely just toying with them, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a burst of hope. But rather than bringing in a captive, the man reached up to his face and actually began to peel it away. Upon seeing what was underneath his heart skipped a beat. It was Itachi's face.

"What trick is this?" Shisui demanded.

"It's no trick," Orochimaru assured them activating his Sharingan.

The voice he now spoke in was Itachi's as well. Seeing that man, using his brother's face and voice filled him with rage beyond anything he'd ever felt before. But with his own Sharingan activated, Sasuke could sense those eyes were real, no mere illusion.

"And before you suggest I merely stole his eyes let me ask you this," Orochimaru spoke up before either of them could find their voice again. "If I merely wanted these eyes, why would I have waited so long? I know Konoha as well as anyone, and it would have been child's play to kidnap one or two of your clansman. I waited because I wanted the whole package, and I wouldn't settle for less then the best. A young, strong, healthy body. And when it grows old, I'll discard it and take another. I have found the key to immortality."

"Let him go!" Sasuke demanded.

He knew his words wouldn't help, and wanted nothing more than to wring the man's neck. But he believed the traitor's story. He couldn't bring himself to do that if it meant killing his own brother. And Orochimaru had known he would react like that, it was why he had been so confident. Screaming impotently had been the only release he could think of for his anger.

"Before that, I believe we have a fight to get back to," Orochimaru answered.

What followed was far from the most impressive fight of Sasuke's career. Orochimaru was faster than Sasuke would have imagined. Meanwhile Sasuke and Shisui both still had strong reservations about harming Itachi's body, severely limiting their options. So the two of them were more or less toyed with and tossed around like rag dolls.

After a harsh impact with one of the walls, Sasuke fell to the ground, his mind groggy and his body not wanting to respond.

"Karin," he heard Orochimaru say, "process the two of them and then move them to our main lab. That was amusing, but I tire of this game. I'll be leaving immediately."

Then Sasuke lost his fight to remain conscious.

******

"No guards," Hinata whispered to Anko as they looked upon the building in front of them.

"Then it appears your targets are already here," Anko replied.

Picking one of the entrances the two of them entered and began searching the building. Hinata was making use of her Byakugan to scan the surrounding floors and rooms as they moved, but had yet to see sign of a single person. She was beginning to wonder if the place wasn't already abandoned. Then she spotted them.

"They're two floors beneath us and they've been captured," she announced to Anko. "There's a woman with them who seems to be aware of our location. She may be a sensor."

"What point is directly above her?" Anko asked.

When Hinata pointed out the location, Anko cut her hand and summoned a large snake that filled about half the hallway. Directing the snake, it smashed headfirst into the floor breaking through it, and continuing through that floor beneath. With her Byakugan, Hinata watched the surprised woman become trapped as the ceiling, not to mention several tons of snake, fell on top of her.

Anko dismissed the snake and the two of them jumped down the hole to examine her handiwork. The woman was alive, but unconscious. Both her legs were broken, but she didn't appear to be in any danger of dying. Sasuke and Shisui were unconscious as well and chained to the wall.

"Not bad work if I say so myself," Anko said proudly.

"Yeah, you somehow managed not to collapse the whole area and kill our targets as well," Hinata retorted. "That's a surprising degree of restraint from you."

"Just grab our prisoners and let's go," Anko told her. "It's pretty clear that Orochimaru has already abandoned this place."

"And as far as anyone else in Konoha knows, we found nothing here," Hinata insisted.

"Oh?" Anko asked curiously, "Are you suggesting lying to our superiors so you can pursue your own personal agenda?"

Hinata frowned. That was fairly accurate, but she didn't like hearing it said so openly.

"I'm so proud of you," Anko told her cheerfully, "I didn't think you had it in you. As a reward I'm going to make the price for my cooperation really cheap. First, I want to hear exactly what you're planning. Second, whenever we eat out together, you're paying. As in from now until the day we die."

"Fine," Hinata answered. "I've been planning this for some time. It took some doing, but I managed to locate a Kumo spy in Konoha. I haven't actually reported my discovery. Since that's where reports indicate Naruto defected to when he betrayed Konoha, all I need to do is leak to him a scheduled execution for Uchiha Sasuke, and Naruto should come running."

"If you've had this spy available, what did you actually need Sasuke for?" Anko asked.

"It's unlikely Konoha is the only country with spies in Kiri," Hinata answered. "It wouldn't do much good to send reports of an execution if they know Sasuke is still cowering behind the Mizukage's protection."

"You don't know Naruto as well as you think you do if you believe he'd risk letting Sasuke be executed just because of a conflicting report," Anko lectured her.

"I know he and Sasuke were close," Hinata admitted, "But I suppose I just don't trust his loyalty as much as you do."

"If anything, I think he proved himself too loyal to his family," Anko countered. "But anyway, you sure have put a lot of work into this just to get back at an old boyfriend. Seems a bit obsessive to me."

"Just get to work securing the prisoners," Hinata barked out as her cheeks burned red with ... with anger, definitely anger.

******

**AN**

Sorry for the almost three month wait between chapters. I could lie to you and give you the old hard drive crash excuse, but honestly I mostly just played video games and procrastinated.

Not that I have anything against lying. I told my beta not to worry about getting this chapter back to me quickly then posted it without hearing back not two days later. I decided I'd rather get it out before I left for holiday traveling.

In regards to this chapter, I admit to being very apprehensive about the big fight scene in this chapter. It involved too many people, several of whom have had little information on their abilities given. This was the primary cause of my putting off work on it. (Alright, maybe secondary after my natural laziness, but you get the idea.) Anyway, I finally got around to doing it and I don't think it turned out quite as bad as I'd feared. Nearly so, but not quite.


	10. Chapter 10

"They've already captured three Jinchuuriki?" Karui cried out in response to Killer Bee's latest revelation.

"That we know of," he replied. "Iwa isn't being at all forthcoming about the location or status of the Yonbi and Gobi. They could have as many as five."

Naruto had no idea how Bee had even gotten the information. They had camped in a clearing not too far from Kusagakure, with Takigakure and the Nanabi being their ultimate destination. Then in the morning, Bee had woken them to the news.

"I guess there isn't much point in continuing on," Naruto pointed out. "Should we go back to Suna and wait for them to strike Gaara again?"

"That may be the best course of action," Bee agreed, "But there's something else you should know."

He paused for a few seconds as if considering his words carefully.

"Uchiha Sasuke was the one you insisted on sending that message to after we first met, right?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, what about him?" Naruto replied, Bee's own reticence to bring this up making Naruto more than a little nervous.

"I received a report that he's been captured by Konoha and is scheduled for execution as a traitor," Bee declared, no longer beating around the bush.

Naruto froze for a second as he let that sink in.

"What!" he yelled as the impact of the message had fully hit him. "I've got to save him. Where's he being held? How long do I have? What else do you know?"

"Calm down for a moment," Yugito ordered him. "This is most likely a trap."

"I don't care," Naruto insisted. "If I walk into a trap, I'll deal with it. But I'm not going to let them kill Sasuke because I was too afraid to help him."

"You understand right?" he asked, turning to Bee. "If the Raikage had been the one captured, you'd feel the same way, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would," Bee replied confidently. "That's why we're going with you."

"You can't do that!" Naruto insisted loudly.

"How could we not?" Yugito asked. "You expect us to let you walk into a trap by yourself?"

"Yeah, we've grown quite fond of you over the years, kiddo," Karui chimed in, while tussling his hair.

He growled slightly in response, annoyed that she persisted in treating him like a kid despite the fact that he was now almost as tall as her. She probably did it just to bother him.

But putting that aside, he focused on the other occupants of the room and saw even Samui was nodding in agreement. For once, Naruto was at a temporary loss for words. He'd gotten used to having a family, but still found it almost difficult to believe that others could come to care for him. But somehow, without his even realizing it, these people had done just that. And that realization had left him unsure how to react.

Omoi chose that moment to interject. "I must point out that ..."

"You stay out of this! You're ruining the mood!" Karui interrupted forcefully.

And the forceful interruption part was quite literal. For while her verbal response could easily be described as forceful, as far as in interruptions go, her fist hadn't left much for tongue to do when it had left Omoi collapsed in heap with the wind the knocked out of him.

"No, what Omoi was going to say is probably right," Naruto admitted. "How do you think Konoha will react to a group Kumo-nin jailbreaking a Konoha citizen who's scheduled for death?"

"Don't worry," Bee assured him. "The Raikage will clear up any minor diplomatic issues we might cause. He's good at cleaning up after me."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear you said that," Naruto quipped, pleased to see the normally fearless man's face whiten a bit at the thought. "But even if that's true, protecting the remaining Jinchuuriki is still Yuugure's priority. This is something I have to do, but the rest of you need to focus on the bigger issues. Now if you'll give me details on that report, I want to leave immediately."

Bee looked a little reluctant, but when no one seemed to have anything to say in response he slipped out a piece of paper and handed it to Naruto. Heading to the door, he looked over his shoulder one last time. Seeing the concern on the faces of his friends, he gave them his most confident smile to reassure them and swiftly departed.

******

Hinata stood at the ready, carefully scanning the small warehouse she was in with her Byakugan. It was nearly the time she'd claimed the execution would take place, so if anything were going to happen it would be soon. But it was still just her, Sasuke, and an impressive collection of crates haphazardly stacked all over the place. Her teammate turned bait was heavily chained and just as heavily sedated. She didn't want any unnecessary risks at this point. She hadn't even risked bringing Shisui along, instead leaving him in his cell.

Making another visual pass, she finally saw her target sneaking along the outside wall, slowly approaching an open window. She moved towards his apparent destination, such that when Naruto slipped through the window he came face to face with Hinata.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto whispered. "Are you trying to rescue Sasuke too?"

"Sasuke doesn't need rescuing," she told him as calmly as she could. "I spread false information because it was the only way I could think of to get you to come here. And there's something important I need to discuss with you."

She hoped that he would buy her story, but refused to let down her guard even when appeared to relax a little. She began to slowly close the distance between them, trying not to do anything suspicious. She was about four feet away when he suddenly stiffened and she realized he was looking at the unconscious and bound Sasuke.

"It's only a Genjutsu," she lied. "For added effect."

His tension faded again, and she resumed walking towards him, making sure to stay positioned so he couldn't see the hand signs she was making behind his back. Deciding she was close enough, she made her move, lifting his shirt with her left hand and slamming her right palm into his stomach. She then leapt back to see if she'd been successful, and was pleased when her Byakugan showed her the same seal Orochimaru had put on the boy was once again present.

She'd been very interested in that particular seal when she'd heard of it, and it hadn't been too difficult to convince Jiraiya to teach her in the aftermath of their revolution. That should take care of his monstrous healing. And without the Kyuubi's power, he'd be no match for her.

"What was that for?" Naruto asked irritably.

"You're a traitor to the village and too dangerous to be allowed to live," Hinata replied sharply.

Deciding to end this quickly, she charged back toward her target, sending a chakra infused fist toward his chest. When it hit, she'd pump his heart so full of her chakra that the organ would explode. Bracing herself for the impact that would end her former teammate's life, she instead was surprised to find her fist hitting nothing but air as Naruto dodged at the last second.

The seal must not have worked. She never should have trusted Jiraiya, there was no way anyone like him could be as skilled a ninja as the stories said. But examining him, she saw no sign of the red chakra that always heralded the Kyuubi's aid. But he shouldn't have been fast enough to dodge that himself.

"Can't we just talk this over?" Naruto asked placatingly.

Rather than listen, she redoubled her efforts. She attacked again and again, but found every blow dodged or deflected. To her frustration, even without the Kyuubi he seemed to have surpassed her in speed. She realized now it had been a mistake to assume she would be the only one to improve since he'd left. But it was time to show him just how much she'd learned.

She went in for another attack and, as expected, he dodged her attempted palm strike. But this time, several snakes extended from the sleeve of her attacking arm, closing the distance and latching onto his arm. Despite the surprise clearly shown on his face, he reacted admirably, having pulled out a kunai from and decapitated the snakes mere moments after they'd bitten him.

They disappeared in a puff of smoke, but it was too late. They'd already have injected him with their venom. And indeed, he stumbled a bit in response. He should be on the floor unconscious, but it appeared that his inhumane stamina wasn't entirely held in check by the seal. Still, she would press her advantage. Leaping back into action, she found that Naruto's movements were indeed significantly slowed. In response, she was able to seal off several chakra nodes in his arms and legs, slowing him even further.

Deciding she'd weakened him enough, she moved in for the kill.

"That's enough!" A commanding voice boomed, bringing her up short.

Looking in the direction it came from, she found Kakashi standing on top of a pile of crates, dressed in full Hokage regalia. She couldn't stop now though, not when she was so close. Desperately she leapt again towards Naruto, but found her flight interrupted as she was hurled face first into the ground and held in place by a knee on her back.

"That was an order from your Hokage," the Rokudaime said crossly.

"Why are you protecting him?" Hinata cried out.

"I don't like to get involved in personal matters," Kakashi said. "But despite my giving you every chance to work this out yourself, you've proven that the task is beyond you."

"That's not fair," Hinata yelled at him. "You don't know what he's done!"

"I know a lot better than you do," Kakashi fire back. "Because I, for one, bothered to find out what really happened. Did you know that he didn't run off? He was kidnapped. Actually, he was kidnapped twice; he decided to come back the first time."

Not to be persuaded so easily, Hinata continued to argue her point. "That doesn't change the fact that ..."

"Doesn't change that fact that he kept his promise and confronted Fugaku about the hostages?" Kakashi asked, interrupting her. "Or the fact that he was told there was nothing Fugaku could do, as he wasn't even the person who was holding them. That a third party was using them to blackmail both sides for his own ends?"

Stunned by this revelation, Hinata prepared to ask the obvious follow-up question, only to be cut off by Kakashi once again.

"And no I won't tell you who that third party is," he informed her. "You've already proven you're not mature enough to handle that information, and we have no real proof. But maybe Naruto will tell you can ever convince him to speak to you again after the way you've acted."

Turning toward the aforementioned blond, she saw that he was standing unsteadily on his feet with his skin having turned a very unhealthy shade of green.

"The room is spinning so fast. This is fun." Naruto slurred out weakly.

"Maybe I should remove that seal before the poison finishes him off," Kakashi quipped.

******

Naruto felt his mind clear as the Kyuubi's chakra, no longer barred by a seal, did its work removing the snake's venom from his system. He glanced over at Hinata who had been let up but looked suitably chastised. At the very least he didn't think her likely to assault him again anytime soon.

"I'm not done with you yet," Kakashi told Hinata sternly, seeming to have satisfied himself that Naruto would be fine new. "I've known all these things for years. It's amazing what you can find out from a few questions to some of the Uchiha we captured. I'd have been happy to tell you if you asked. But you made up your mind and never bothered to look underneath the underneath. Isn't that right Anko?"

"Yeah," Anko confirmed, stepping out of the shadows in another corner of the warehouse, partially eaten bag of popcorn in hand. "Only thing she wanted to know about Naruto was where he was. Good show by the way you two. Although you might want to learn how to not lose so pathetically in the future, Naruto."

"She caught me off guard, and I wasn't even fighting seriously," Naruto protested.

"And both of those are completely your own fault," Anko replied smugly.

"So, what happens to me now?" Naruto asked Kakashi.

"Oh, I'd say you continue the secret mission I assigned you three years ago," he answered.

Naruto was confused for a moment until he realized that Kakashi was offering him a way to escape punishment for his absence. That was a surprising piece of good news.

"In fact, if your associate would let herself inside, we can discuss it further," Kakashi added.

There was a pause, before Karui entered through the same window he had, somewhat abashedly.

"Is there anyone I know who wasn't watching this whole thing?" Naruto asked sullenly.

"There may be one or two," Sasuke replied from the center of the room.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Genjutsu?" Naruto asked his brother.

"She lied about that," he responded. "I've only been feigning unconsciousness for the last ten minutes or so. And I agree with Anko, that was a very entertaining fight."

"You've got a lot of nerve saying that when you're the one in chains," Naruto fired back.

"The difference is," Sasuke replied condescendingly, "that I was beaten by Orochimaru, one of Konoha's most infamous criminals ever. You on the other hand, were beaten by a girl your own age."

"He's got you there, kiddo." Karui chimed in.

"Well at least I'm not two for two on getting caught trying to sneak around Konoha," Naruto fired back.

He was pleased to see this left her temporarily at a loss for words. While she was attempting to come up with a suitably witty response, he registered something that had just been mentioned.

"What were you doing fighting Orochimaru?" Naruto asked him.

"He captured nii-san," he replied coldly, his anger at the man clearly visible.

"What?!" Naruto yelled in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because you've been in hiding for three years and never gave me any way to contact you," his brother explained.

"Oh," he replied feeling his face flush a bit. "I guess you're right. Sorry about that."

"It gets worse," Sasuke continued. "He's somehow taken over Itachi's body."

"Orochimaru with a Sharingan?" Kakashi interjected. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Anko, have you managed to get a location out of your prisoner yet?" Sasuke queried.

"Of course I do," she answered, sounding almost offended that he'd asked. "I'm very good at getting information out of prisoners. Took me less than an hour to find out where his main lab is, and I'm quite confident that it's accurate. Believe me, she was too terrified of me to even consider sending me on a wild goose chase. Especially after the first day."

"I thought it took you less than an hour to get her to talk," Naruto pointed out.

"Let's just say I like to be thorough," Anko replied with a grin that actually made Naruto feel sorry for whoever it was Anko had captured. "Now I assume you boys will want to come with me."

"We'll come too," Karui offered. "Orochimaru is a former member of Akatsuki, and that makes him a potential source information

"We?" Naruto asked. "You mean you're not the only one who followed me here?"

"Everyone else is waiting outside the village in case I signal them," she replied. "We'd assumed this would be an Akatsuki trap to split us up and capture you, not just some little spat."

"Lovers' quarrel," Anko stage whispered, to Naruto's embarrassment.

"Well, I don't think forbidding any of you to go would do any good," Kakashi said thoughtfully. "And I can't go with, as there's a big meeting of the five Kage's I need to go to. But I do know someone else I can send with you who should be interested in going."

"The more the merrier," Anko said cheerfully. "You coming too Hinata?"

"I ... think I just need some time alone right now to ... think some things over," she answered weakly.

That was fine with Naruto. He found the Hyuuga girl to be impossible to figure out. It seemed that one day she was putting a knife in his back, the next she was all friendly, and the day after she was trying to kill again. Not the type of person one wanted to be around if they were at all fond of either their life or their sanity.

"Great," Sasuke declared. "Now that we have everything settled, can someone please let me out of these stupid chains?"

******

Sasuke was following behind Karui as she led them outside the village to where the rest of this mysterious group Naruto had joined was supposedly located. They'd already made a stop to free Shisui, so with Anko and Naruto that made five of them. They had yet to find out who it was the Hokage wanted to send with them.

Even knowing now, the things his father had done, he couldn't help be resent the man who had taken his place at least a little. But Kakashi seemed to be doing his part to try to make amends. First in allowing this mission and second with the promise he'd made before they'd parted ways. That he'd make sure they were pardoned if his family wanted to return to Konoha after this mission.

Although Sasuke did have to wonder if it was an empty promise. Sasuke and Shisui had been able to confirm that surviving members of their clan hadn't really been mistreated. Even those who had joined them in Kiri and were subsequently captured had all since been released after giving an oath to remain in the village. Even still, he had his doubts the wife and son of Fugaku could be protected even by the Hokage himself.

But then, that may be why he made the offer for after the mission. Eliminating one of Konoha's most infamous criminals would go a long way towards paving the path for Kakashi to keep his promise.

But for now, Sasuke turned his attention back to more immediate concerns. He was glad to see Naruto doing so well. Not that he would ever admit it, but he'd begun to worry about his brother after not hearing anything since that first letter. And despite his teasing to contrary, he was quite impressed with his performance after having his access to the Kyuubi sealed. In fact, both of his old teammates had performed admirably. Despite their differences, he almost wished Hinata would be joining them.

Still, even without considering whatever other people were members of this Yuugure group or this mystery helper the Hokage would be sending, they already had a very formidable assault group. He just hoped it would be enough. He'd been forced the hard way to learn just how dangerous their opponent was. And they had to beat him without harming the body too severely. Then they had to take into account whatever forces Orochimaru might have with him.

So it was they arrived at their destination and came upon four people who were waiting for them. Sasuke knew he recognized the large man from the group but couldn't place from where. So he only vaguely listened to the ensuing summary of recent events as he tried to dredge up the memory of that face. Despite his preoccupation, he did note that they had agreed to go along on this mission, as Karui had assured they would. Suddenly it came to him.

"You're the Raikage's younger brother!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Just what have you gotten yourself into, Naruto?"

"I'm not just the Raikage's younger brother," he huffed out. "I'm the jinchuuriki of the Hachibi, and one of the most powerful ninja in the world."

"If you and Naruto are both jinchuuriki, what about the rest of you?" he asked.

"I'm Yugito, the jinchuuriki of the Nibi," one of the woman announced. "None of the others have a bijuu, but I assure you they're all highly skilled ninja."

"The short version is, Akatsuki wants to capture the bijuu, we all have a personal interest in seeing that they don't, so we formed a group to stop them," Naruto explained to him.

"Well, this certainly is a fortuitous development," Shisui declared.

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed. "What do we need this guy the Hokage wants to send for? I say we go storm Orochimaru's base right now. We've certainly got the firepower for it."

"How rude," a voice announced from within the forests. "You were planning to leave behind the one and only, the great, Jiraiya-sama?"

Said man leaped flashily from the trees, doing several flips in the air before landing among them.

"After all, who better to deal with a Sannin than another Sannin?" Jiraiya asked to the stunned group.

Surprised again by another stroke of good fortune, Sasuke couldn't help but smile at this. Orochimaru wasn't going to know what hit him.

******

"I still don't like the plan," Anko complained. "If we all just surround Orochimaru and hit him with everything we've got, we're sure to take him out. And it'd be a mercy for your brother."

"No," Sasuke insisted angrily. "We're going to stick to the current plan. Shisui and I have worked out a way to enter Itachi's mind and free him from there. Jiraiya will deal with Orochimaru's corporeal form while we do so."

"Fine," Anko spat out, "I'll give you your chance. But if your little Sharingan hocus pocus doesn't work, don't think I'll hesitate to kill the host in order to destroy the parasite."

He realized that was the best he was likely to get from her and so simply nodded.

"So all we get to do is take out his lackeys?" Naruto whined.

"Not at all," Shisui replied. "Anything that will distract or unbalance Orochimaru will only improve our chances of success. So it'd be helpful if you cause as much damage and mayhem as you can."

"That's more like it," Naruto responded cheerfully.

And he wasn't the only one to brighten at that statement.

"Maybe this plan isn't so bad after all," Anko conceded, her face taking on a thoughtful look that involuntarily brought images to Sasuke's mind he'd rather not dwell on.

"There won't be much left for any of you to destroy once I get going," Bee added.

"But what if we destroy the information on Akatsuki we're looking for?" Omoi asked worriedly.

"While you cause damage, I'll look for it," Samui declared simply, in an apparent attempt to allay his concerns.

He hadn't been around them for long, but the woman displayed little enough emotion to be considered odd even in more normal company. Among the rest of her team, she seemed glaringly out of place. Almost as if she was trying to act as a balance for all of them.

"Well, what if we destroy the structural integrity and the building collapses on us?" Omoi countered, still seeming to have reservations about the plan.

"Quit your whining," Karui berated him. "If a little thing like a falling ceiling can kill you, maybe you don't deserve to be on this team in the first place."

"Anyway, we're almost there, so try to keep it down," Sasuke ordered. "Remember, wait four minutes after the three of us enter before you follow. Our target may flee if he knows the full force of what we have arrayed against him."

"Yeah, yeah," Anko said dismissively. "We heard you the first three times you told us."

"I only repeat it, because I want it to actually sink in," Sasuke retorted.

They came to a halt near the top of a hill. Peeking over, they saw a large facility down below. Unlike the last place they'd infiltrated, this made no attempts to disguise itself. He could see a dozen ninja from his vantage point patrolling the area. This was a compound that used force rather than stealth for protection.

Sasuke made ready to depart with Shisui and Jiraiya, when Naruto grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I wish I could be more help," Naruto told him morosely, "But promise me you'll rescue Itachi."

"Don't sell yourself short," Sasuke replied, "Orochimaru isn't the only one who can't afford to be distracted. With you to watch my back, I can focus completely on Orochimaru. And I swear I won't let that opportunity go to waste."

"Just do a little better than last time," Naruto quipped, but Sasuke let it slide, glad to see his words had cheered the blond up a little.

No one else made a move to stop him, so this time the three departed, dashing towards the main entrance without even worrying about stealth. There were two guards at the door, but one quickly fell with several of Shisui's shuriken embedded in his neck. The other was grabbed by Jiraiya and slammed bodily through the door, throwing it clean off its hinges and sending the poor fool into unconsciousness.

The three quickly made their way through the now open entrance and looked around. This was supposed to be a research lab, and the large room they'd entered certainly fit that description. There were tables full of beakers, vials of strange liquids, and all sorts of papers and notes. There were also large cages and beds with thick straps on them that gave the room a much more sinister appearance, but thankfully they were all empty at the moment.

"Orochimaru! Show yourself!" Sasuke yelled to the room, which appeared to have been empty prior to their entrance.

At this point Sasuke actually began to worry. They had no way of knowing for certain Orochimaru would be here. He'd stubbornly refused to consider that possibility before, but his thoughts were implacably drifting in that direction. His feelings of doubt soon shifted to a cold fury when a familiar form appeared in front of them.

"Why if it isn't Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said cheerfully, back to wearing his own face, Sasuke noted. "I wasn't expecting you to visit again so soon. And I see you've brought my old teammate with you. Although I really wish you would stop using that hideous toad face, Jiraiya."

Sasuke glanced over at Jiraiya confused as to what Orochimaru was talking about, and saw the older man feeling his face as if to check something before glaring at his fellow Sannin.

"Oh, that's your normal face?" Orochimaru mocked. "I'm afraid it's hard to tell the difference. And it's been what, three years since I last saw you? Not since you agreed to let me have Itachi's body if I helped overthrow Sasuke-kun's father."

He turned once again to Jiraiya, but this time, his expression was decidedly less friendly.

"I'll answer whatever questions you have when this is over," Jiraiya assured him. "Just stay focused and don't let him turn us against each other."

Sasuke knew the man was right, but he wasn't about to forget this. His father may have made some poor choices, but Jiraiya had anything to do with Itachi's abduction, it wouldn't be easy for him to win Sasuke's forgiveness.

"Ah, I can see you three aren't here just to chat," the snake Sannin declared. "Now if you'll wait just one moment, I don't think this is the appropriate face for the occasion."

Even knowing what was about to come wasn't enough to fully brace Sasuke for seeing the man peel away his face to reveal Itachi's underneath. Stealing his nerves, he prepared himself to execute their plan but was interrupted by a large crash that seemed to be coming from somewhere else in the building. Most likely from a wall being knocked in.

"That was not even close to four minutes," Sasuke muttered to himself.

He wondered which fool had jumped the gun. He supposed it didn't matter, since Orochimaru had already taken the bait, but they'd all be hearing from him after this just the same.

"Go greet our new guests," Orochimaru ordered. "I'll take care of things here."

To his consternation, Sasuke saw three ninja who had been hiding back in the shadowy corners of the room depart. How had he missed noticing them completely? Activating his Sharingan, he scanned the room, looking to see if anyone else was still lying in wait. Not seeing anyone he nodded to Shisui, and the two of them began to form the Genjutsu they'd planned to use to rescue Itachi.

As if he'd been waiting for that signal, Orochimaru leapt towards Shisui, but was intercepted by Jiraiya before he could reach him. Pressing on with their Genjutsu, he felt it surrounding their target, reaching out to engulf him. Then Orochimaru looked right at him, Itachi's stolen Sharingan active, and grinned. Immediately he felt combined chakra they were using to ensnare the man, sort of slip past him, unable to gain a purchase. It seemed that he wasn't completely unskilled in the use of his new eyes.

But they weren't about to give up, they just needed one slip from the man, and he'd be trapped. They'd just try again and again, no matter how many times it took. But as the attempts grew, his confidence began to fall. Minutes passed, and still Orochimaru proved maddeningly elusive.

He wasn't even an Uchiha? How was he able to fight so intensively with a ninja of Jiraiya's caliber and at the same time run circles around two of the most skilled members of their clan in Genjutsu? The man really was a genius. And perhaps, he was able to steal some of Itachi's skills along with his body. He realized he truly didn't know much of how the process worked.

At least on other fronts things were going better. There were near constant crashes coming from various areas of the complex that gave proof the rest of their group were succeeding in their task. And Jiraiya had been able to protect them from all of their opponent's assaults and avoid injury himself.

Come to think of it, Orochimaru probably wasn't focusing much attention on Jiraiya. Protecting targets and fighting without seriously injuring your opponent was a huge handicap. That Jiraiya was still uninjured despite that, most likely meant he had most of his attention on the two Uchiha. Which meant he may be struggling more than he was letting on.

Off to the side, Sasuke noticed a familiar head of spiky blond hair. Wondering when he'd shown up, Sasuke saw him duck under a table containing a particularly large number of vials and equipment. He then lifted it straight into the air, without spilling any of the contents.

"Put that down this instant, you little brat!" Orochimaru yelled, having noticed Naruto's presence as well at some point.

He didn't know why Orochimaru was so concerned with that table, but he knew Naruto well enough to know what his response to that order would be, and this might be the opportunity he needed. Focusing all his efforts, he synced up with Shisui to attempt their Genjutsu one more time. Then, just as he'd expected, Naruto twisted the table, and hurled all of its contents into the wall.

Right at the moment glass began to shatter, they struck again. And this time there was no slipping away, Naruto's timely distraction providing just the extra little push they needed to succeed. He felt his mind being drawn along the pathways their jutsu had just opened, his vision blurring to where he couldn't see anything.

When it had cleared again, he saw himself, Shisui, and Orochimaru standing in a dark room. They'd succeeded in invading his mind, and within this space, Orochimaru appeared in his own form. Spread throughout the room, were a number of large lumps that he quickly realized, from some partially visible faces, were bodies wrapped in some substance. Looking around he tried to find Itachi, assuming he must be in one of them.

"If I had known this was what that jutsu would do, I would have let you do it from the start," Orochimaru declared confidently. "I've fought on this plane every time I've switched bodies, learned all its secrets. I even defeated your own brother. In here you have no chance against me."

As if to prove his point, snakes made out of the same material that surrounded all the other bodies appeared from nowhere and began twisting around Sasuke and Shisui. He struggled, but found himself completely unable to move. Already more than half his body was trapped and he couldn't think of any way out of this.

Then he saw another figure appear from behind Orochimaru.

"Nii-san!" he cried out reflexively when he realized who it was.

"You! How are you free?" Orochimaru cried out when he'd turned to face Itachi, his face somehow taking an even whiter shade if that were possible.

The progress of the snakes that had been wrapping them halted completely. Itachi meanwhile, simply stood there staring at his oppressor silently, Sharingan spinning.

"Stop! You can't do this to me! I've already beaten you!" Orochimaru continued to yell.

But judging from his reaction, it appeared Itachi was winning whatever struggle they were engaging in. Then everything went back, and Sasuke found himself back in reality, at almost the same moment the jutsu had hit. The shattered pieces of equipment hadn't even finished falling to the ground.

"Itachi!" he called out, running over to where his brother's body had just slumped to the ground.

Looking down on the fallen body, he found himself releasing a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding when the eyes opened a few seconds later. He heard a similar sound from Naruto, who had already made his way next to him.

"Yes it's me," Itachi said weakly. "You did it."

"I feel more like you rescued me in there," Sasuke replied as relief spread throughout his body. "But we can discuss that after we get out of here."

Explosions and other large crashes continued to reverberate throughout the area, seeming to shake the building down to its foundations. Sasuke felt a tick beginning to form, as the antics of the rest of their group threatened to spoil the moment.

"Naruto, Shisui, Jiraiya, can you stop those idiots before they really do bring the whole place down?" he asked.

Almost before he'd finished the sentence, he heard a particularly close crash, and turned to see Jiraiya standing by a newly formed hole in the wall, a couple body lengths in diameter, fist still extended. Sasuke glared at the man, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I didn't want to them have all the fun," he stated sheepishly.

******

The whole group had made it out without any noteworthy injuries. Having left the facility, they had split up, with only Sasuke, Naruto, and Shisui remaining with Itachi. The rest were either remaining behind to search the facility or heading back to Konoha.

He'd already been given a brief overview on what had happened since he'd been captured, and how his mother had come to be living in Kirigakure, said city being their current destination.

Pausing a brief moment, to just take in the simple pleasure of being free and in control of his own body again, he spent a few more seconds to stop the shaking in his right hand. Then he turned and followed after his two younger brothers, who seemed eager to get on with their journey.

Itachi had been aware the entire duration of his captivity. He even occasionally caught glimpses of his captor's thoughts when he was particularly focused on something. Early on he'd made attempts to free himself, but found that Orochimaru was constantly on his guard for that, and would return to strengthen the bonds almost instantly after even the slightest of struggles.

So he'd stopped struggling, pretended to give up hope, planned, and waited for an opportunity to appear. That Sasuke had been the one to give him that opportunity filled him with a sense of pride. He paused briefly as he felt his head spin and gave it a moment to clear. Hopefully it was just a side effect of his ordeal that would soon pass and not ... well, he didn't want to dwell on the other possibility.

He continued moving again, and saw Shisui give him a curious look. Thankfully Naruto and Sasuke didn't seem to notice anything off. The two of them had been spending the journey catching him up on everything that had been going on for them in the past three years. Naruto was energetically boasting of all his exploits, and for once, Sasuke seemed almost as excited as his brother.

He was more than happy to listen to them, and it appeared both had grown in more than just height since he'd last seen them. But as the journey continued, his symptoms became stronger, and he could no longer deny what it was. He was showing obvious signs of drug withdrawal. He wasn't sure exactly what Orochimaru had done with his body over the years, but it was somewhat surprising he'd be feeling such strong effects so soon. The battle he'd just been in may have accelerated the process to some degree.

This worried him as he knew withdrawal could be fatal for certain substances. He wouldn't think Orochimaru would leave himself so dependant on a substance, but it was hard to predict the mind of a madman. Still, they were making good progress towards Kiri, and there were bound to be at least one medic-nin who could help his body overcome its dependency. Still, he subtly increased their pace and began pushing harder.

But he couldn't keep up the pace for long, as his body continued to weaken. Itachi now had a choice to make, it they continued to push towards Kiri, he'd probably survive with the help of medical attention. But the real danger wasn't in his survival, he could already feel Orochimaru struggling, trying to regain control of his body. As he weakened, it was becoming more and more difficult to resist. Should he falter for moment, he'd loose, and who knows what Orochimaru would do.

His mind went through his options. They could restrain him, put him under a powerful sleep jutsu, or any number of possibilities to prevent him from doing harm should he loose control. Then they would have time to work on freeing Itachi once again. But that was risky. There was no guarantee he would be able to break free so easily next time, or that Orochimaru wouldn't be able to escape from whatever they trapped him in. He was a very dangerous individual and an expert and saving his own skin.

But no matter what Orochimaru did, he knew Sasuke, Naruto, and Shisui would chase him to the ends of the earth trying to rescue him again. He'd be putting all their lives at risk to try to save his own. When he looked at it that way, his choice was simple.

"Shisui, can you go on ahead and get my mother?" he asked. "I'd like to speak with Sasuke and Naruto."

It was a tribute to the strength of their friendship that with a single look Shisui was able to convey that he knew exactly what Itachi was thinking. And despite this, he acquiesced to Itachi's decision and departed with a simple nod, leaving at the fastest speed he was capable of. His brothers gave a confused look to his rapidly departing form.

"Don't stop," Itachi told them. "We can talk as we travel."

They complied and looked at him curiously as they followed him along their path. He remained silent for a few minutes to get his thoughts in order and he could sense a growing impatience from the other two.

"Kabuto is a spy for Orochimaru," Itachi finally began. "I was able to occasionally catch glimpses of Orochimaru's thoughts and that was one of my discoveries."

"Who's Kabuto?" Naruto asked.

"I think he's a medic-nin in Konoha," Sasuke answered. "But why are you telling us this now?"

"Akatsuki sent him to spy on Orochimaru," Itachi continued, ignoring Sasuke's question. "But Orochimaru turned him and made him his own agent. He's sure to have information on their group if you capture him. But he's much more dangerous than he looks, so use extreme caution."

"Thanks," Naruto replied. "That'll be a great help. But we can deal with him when we get back to Konoha. Why are you making such a big deal about it?"

But Itachi simply remained silent as they continued traveling. Soon Kirigakure became visible in the distance, and almost as soon as Itachi had noticed the city, he saw a form moving towards them which quickly resolved itself to be Shisui, carrying his mother.

"Itachi!" she cried out as soon as she saw him leaping down from Shisui's arms she ran to him and engulfed him a fierce hug.

"I never thought I'd see you again," she continued, tears that had already been welling up in her eyes now spilling over.

"And Naruto!" she called out, releasing Itachi and giving him his own turn to be smothered in her embrace.

Not that he seemed to mind, happily returning it.

"You've grown so much," she announced warmly before she switched over to glaring at him, an effect that was somewhat ruined by how misty her eyes still were. "And don't you ever disappear like that again."

"Sasuke, Naruto, Itachi," she said, finally releasing Naruto. "All four of us together again. I have so many things to say, I just don't know where to start."

Itachi decided that waiting any further would only make this crueler. "I'm glad I got to see you all one last time."

"What are you talking about, 'one last time?'" Sasuke asked.

"I'm going through withdrawal from drugs that Orochimaru used on me," Itachi declared, then without giving them a chance to respond, continued. "My body is growing weaker, and it's becoming difficult to keep him from taking over again. It's only a matter of time until he succeeds."

"Don't give me that!" Naruto yelled at him, unsurprisingly angry at his decision. "Sasuke and Shisui already beat him up once, just let them back in your head and they'll do it again. They'll do it as many times as it takes."

"It's not that simple," Itachi answered, "and my mind is already made up."

"You can't," his mother ordered him. "Not after I've finally got you back again."

She moved towards him, looking intent to engulf him in another hug. Of its own volition, his arm suddenly leapt out towards his mother. Time seemed to slow down as it moved steadfastly towards her neck, his body refusing to listen to him. At the speed it was moving, she hadn't even realized what was happening as it moved closer inch by inch.

Then he felt an impact as a kunai pierced the palm of his hand, lodging there and hitting with enough force to completely knock his arm away.

As suddenly as he'd lost control, he could now move his body again.

"What are you doing!" his mother yelled accusingly at Shisui, when she'd realized that her son had been assaulted.

"Thank you," he told Shisui, and meant it more than he'd ever meant those words, "I couldn't ask for a better friend."

Realizing this was the end for him, Orochimaru must have put everything into one last attack to make Itachi suffer. But it didn't change the fact that he'd already put this off too long and couldn't wait any longer.

"And I couldn't wish for a better family either," he added.

Then, without giving them any further chance to protest, he pulled the kunai from his hand, and rapidly went through a set of hand seals taught to everyone in their clan. It would cause one's own body to be consumed in fire, reducing itself to nothing but ash, and protecting the secrets of the Sharingan.

Activating it, he saw his family rush him, before his vision faded. He heard them crying his name, before hearing too was denied him. He regretted that his decision would again cause pain to others, and to those he held most dear at that. But this time the only one to die because of his choice would be him. This time, he had a clear conscience.

******

**AN**

**  
**Well, I'm certainly not putting these out anywhere near as fast as I used to. But I am still very committed to finishing this, and do have the ending completely planned out, so fear not in that regard.

As a note, I once read an author whose chapter had been delayed much longer than mine blame it largely on having too many of the story's main characters in one place and finding that difficult to write. I underestimated how true that really is.

So my advice to any aspiring writers is to consider that fact when writing your story. It is painfully hard to write dialogue for a large group of characters. You feel you're ignoring some characters who just fall into the background. And if you try to give everyone their share of lines the dialogue becomes awkward. You're never really satisfied with how it turns out and eventually just settle for well enough.

Or at least that's how it is for me. If you're more skilled than me, (which really isn't much of an accomplishment) and you can handle it, more power to you.

The next chapter is going to be something many of you may think me incapable of writing, a slow paced character development chapter that focuses on how everyone deals with all the stuff that just happened.

Yeah, I know; who thought I could write a chapter where following the plot didn't feel like driving a car at 120 mph down a highway? Don't worry, I'll probably include the Kage summit in that chapter so you don't suffer whiplash from the deceleration.


End file.
